THE SULPICIANS 



THE UNITED STATES 



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THE SULPICIANS 

IN THE 

UNITED STATES 



BY 

CHARLES G. HERBERMANN, LL.D. 

EMEBITDB PBOFE8SOB OF LATIK Ilf THE COLLEGE OF THE CITT OF HEW TOBK; 

SDITOB'IN-CBIEF OF THE CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA; PBESLDENT OF 

THE UinTED STATES CATHOLIC HIBTOBICAL SOCIETY 



y 




NEW YORK 
THE ENCYCLOPEDIA PRESS 

23 EAST FORTY-FIRST STREET 



,u^ 






Nihil Obstat 

Remigius Lafort, D.D. 

Imprimatur 

^JoHN Cardinal Farley 

Archbishop of New York 

New York, October 7, 1916 



Copyright, THE ENCYCLOPEDU PRESS, INC., 1916 



i 



y-i 



NOV 14 1916 

©CI.A445G2 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTEB PAGB 

I. The Call 1-23 

n. The Beginnings op St. Sulpice in the United 

States 24-52 

m. St. Mary's Seminary, 1791-1810 53-75 

rV. Administration of M. John Mary Tessier, 

1810-1829 76-90 

Y. St. "Mary's College, 1805-1830 91-123 

VI. Other Subsidiaries of St. Mary's Seminary . 124-139 
Yn. The Sulpician Missionary Bishops and Mis- 
sionaries 140-193 

Ym. St. Mary's Seminary. The Administration 

of M. Deluol 194-214 

IX. The Protegees of the Sulpicians 215-236 

X. St. Mary's College, 1829-1852 237-244 

XI. The College of St. Charles, Baltimore . . 245-264 

Xn. SuLPic?iAN Missionary Bishops 265-291 

Xm. The Administrations op MM. Lhomme and 

DUBREUL 292-311 

XIV. The Administration of M. Magnien .... 312-337 

Appendix 339-343 

Iin)EX 345-360 



lU 



LIST OP ILLUSTEATIONS 

St. Mary's College, Baltimore Frontispiece 

FACING 
PAGE 

Most Rev. John Carroll, First Archbishop of Baltimore . . 4 
Very Rev. James Andrew Emery, Ninth Superior General 

of St. Sulpice 10 

Jean Jacques Olier, Founder of the Society of St. Sulpice . 28 

The Old House Which Became St. Mary's Seminary ... 37 

Rev. Demetrius A. Gallitzin 45 

M. Francis Charles Nagot 54 

M. Jean Marie Tessier 77 

M. Antoine Gamier 89 

John Dubois, Bishop of New York 127 

Rt. Rev. Benedict Joseph Flaget, First Bishop of Bards- 
town 143 

Rt. Rev. John Baptist David 162 

Rev. Gabriel Richard, Pastor of St. Anne's Church, Detroit, 

' 1799-1832 167 

Most Rev. William Dubourg, Founder and First President 

of St. Mary's College 173 

Most Rev. Ambrose Marechal, Third Archbishop of Balti- 
more 186 

Very Rev. Louis Regis Deluol, Third Superior of St. Mary's 

Seminary 197 

Charles Carroll of CarroUton ^ ..... 207 

First Building of St. Charles' College 220 

Sanctuary of St. Mary's Seminary Chapel 230 

Rev. Oliver L. Jenkins 247 

St. Charles' College, Ellicott City, 1859-1878 256 

Chapel of Our Lady of the Angels, Old St. Charles' ... 265 

v 



VI LIST OF IIXUSTEATIOITS 

VACINa 
PAGB 

Rt. Rev. Simon Gabriel Brute, First Bishop of Vincennes . 269 

Old St. Charles' College 281 

Rt, Rev. John J. Chanehe, First Bishop of Natchez . . . 284 

Rt. Rev. Augustine Verot, First Bishop of St. Augustine . 290 
Very Rev. Francis Lhomme, Fourth Superior of St. Mary's 

Seminary 295 

Very Rev. Joseph Paul Dubreul . 306 

James Cardinal Gibbons, Archbishop of Baltimore . . . 310 

Chapel of Our Lady of the Angels, Catonsville 319 



PEEFACE 

I am glad to connect my name with tlie work to which 
Mr. Herbermann devoted the last months of his noble life, 
and in which he displays his generous Catholic feelings. 
It is regrettable that he had not, before his health began 
to fail, taken up the study of Sulpician influence in this 
country. It merits recognition. 

The Sulpicians, though not numerous in our land, have 
done a work, both in the ministry and in their seminaries, 
altogether out of proportion to their numbers. On the 
mission-field they have everywhere left in the districts in 
which they worked as priests or bishops, a reputation for 
personal holiness, great labors and public spirit. Their 
missionary record is especially noteworthy for men trained 
to the cloistered life of the seminary and laboring in a 
strange land. Again it would be difficult to overrate the 
extent of their help in securing for our needy missions in 
times past a large supply both of French priests and of 
French money. This service is, as has been remarked, not 
unlike that which the French nation rendered ours at the 
period of the Revolution. Within their own vocation, to 
which, as Mr. Herbermann shows, they clung with great 
tenacity, they have exercised an influence of the flrst im- 
portance. 

iN'o cause can have finer leaders than a brotherhood who 
lavish upon it their toil, their resources, and their lives, 
and who hearten their followers by the persuasive sum- 
mons, "follow us." Now, the sacred cause of clerical 
training has won this devotion of the Sulpicians. They 
have the Gospel ideals for the formation of priests, they 
make this training their one passion and pursuit; they 

vii 



Vlll PREFACE 

have the wise traditions of old St. Sulpice which secure 
unity of effort, corporate management of the seminary by 
all the fathers in council, and close personal care of the 
students by spiritual direction given by all the fathers, 
and, most important of all, open, steadfast example of 
priestliness, which the students may see with their eyes 
and handle with their hands. 

I feel, then, that I am voicing the sentiments of the 
thousands of priests in this country who have been trained 
by the Sulpicians, when I affirm that the coming of Father 
IsTagot and his companions to found the first seminary in 
the United States was a signal blessing of God to our 
Church. 

And now, with a knowledge of the one hundred and 
twenty-five years of our history since the foundation of 
St. Mary's at Baltimore, and the experience, besides, of 
a long life in the holy priesthood, I repeat the judgment 
of Bishop Carroll who brought the Sulpicians to the 
States. Writing to Father Emery, the Superior General 
of the Sulpicians, in 1801, he says: 

"I declare to you, as I have declared it in every cir- 
cumstance, that I have nowhere else known men more able 
than your priests, by character, talents and virtues, to 
form such clergymen as the state of religion demands now. 
Accordingly, I believe that it would be one of the great- 
est misfortunes that could befall this Diocese ever to lose 
the gentlemen of the Seminary." 

Archbishop of Baltimore. 
October 13th, 1916. 
Feast of St. Edward. 



INTRODUCTOEY 

The present history of the Sulpicians in the United 
States appeared at first in the "Historical Records and 
Studies," published by the United States Catholic His- 
torical Society of New York City. Some years ago the 
author had his attention drawn to the fact that among 
the many wants to be found in the historical literature 
of our country, a record of the work of the Sulpician 
Fathers in the United States was one of the most cry- 
ing, and at the request of some of the Sulpician Fathers 
and with their aid, he undertook the study of the work 
accomplished in this country by the Company of St. Sul- 
pice. As he progressed in his labor, he found that his 
task was even more attractive than he had conceived it to 
be. The noble aims of the Sulpicians, the admirable 
character of the men, the attractive nature of their meth- 
ods, their sympathy with our country's institutions, their 
services in its necessities and their universal loyalty to 
the cause of Catholicity, did not fail to attract the writer's 
sympathy and admiration. The zeal with which they 
gave themselves to the cause of clerical education, the 
fidelity with which they insisted upon their principles, 
were worthy of all praise, especially when we bear in 
mind the obstacles which they encountered and the will- 
ingness with which they aided the first bishops in the 
missionary and secular educational fields, when this was 
a need, demand the enthusiastic approval of the Catholic 
and the scholar. The writer, therefore, soon found his 
task a labor of love, the more so, as the Sulpician Fathers, 
in accordance with their promise, threw open to him 
their archives to help him fill in gaps in the published 

ix 



X INTRODUCTION 

literature on the subject. He can testify that their help 
was characterized by sympathy and honesty, no less than 
by zeal and courtesy. To his friend, the Rev. A. Boyer, 
he owes the most cordial thanks for his constant and most 
valuable services. To Father Anthony Vieban, also, and 
Father Francis P. Havey, he wishes to acknowledge his 
obligations, as well as to the Very Rev. Edward Dyer, 
the Superior General of the Sulpicians in the United 
States. 

Chables G. Heebeemann 



Blbliogeaphy. Annales de la Propagation de la Foi; 
Bulletin Trimestriel des anciens Eleves de St. Sulpice; 
Golden Jubilee Volume of St. Charles' College (Balti- 
more, 1898) ; Gosselin, Vie de M. Emery (Paris, 1862) ; 
Hassard, John R. G., Life of Archbishop Hughes (iN'ew 
York, 1866); Howlett, William J., St. Thomas Sem- 
inary (St. Louis, 1906) ; Icard, J. H. Pretres de St. 
Sulpice (Paris, 1886) ; UTJniversite Catholiqu^; Lemcke, 
Life of Gallitzin (Munster, 1861) ; Memorial Volume 
of the Centenary of St. Mary's Seminary (Baltimore, 
1891) ; Sadlier, Agnes, Elizabeth Seton, Foundress of 
the Sisters of Charity (New York, 1905) ; Shea, John 
Gilmary, History of the Catholic Church in the United 
States (New York, 1892); Spalding, Life of Bishop 
Flaget (Louisville, 1852) ; Steiner, History of Edvr 
cation in Maryland; The U. S. Catholic Historical Mag- 
azine (1887-1893); Webb, Benj., The Centenary of 
Catholicity in Kentucky (Louisville, 1884) ; White, 
Charles I., Life of Mrs. Eliza A. Seton (New York, 
1904) ; The Catholic Encyclopedia; Seton, Robert, 
Memoirs, Letters and Journal of Elizabeth Seton (New 
York, 1869). 



THE SULPICIANS 
IN THE UNITED STATES 

Chapter I 

The CazJj 

The twenty-seventh of February, 1785, is the birthday 
of the organized Catholic Church of the United States. 
On that day the Reverend John Carroll signified to 
Cardinal Antonelli, then Prefect of the Propaganda, his 
acceptance of the office of superior of the mission of the 
thirteen United States, to which Pope Pius VI had ap- 
pointed him. The new head of the budding American 
Church was fully conscious of the many difficulties he 
would have to surmount in performing the work which 
had been confided to him. ^ot that the flock entrusted 
to the new shepherd was counted by the hundreds of thou- 
sands, not that the clergy which he was to guide was 
unmanageable because of its numbers, for, as he tells us 
in his letter of acceptance, the Catholic laity of Mary- 
land consisted of some 15,000, and that of Pennsylvania 
of 7,000 souls; of these several thousand may have been 
imaginary. !N'ew York, he tells us, was estimated to hold 
some 1500 Catholics. In the remaining States the faith- 
ful were not worth mentioning, and the northwestern ter- 
ritory, i.e. the Illinois country and Michigan, was the 
home of a few thousand half-settled Canadians, under 
the charge of two or three Canadian missionaries. All 
told, the flock of the new shepherd probably did not 
exceed 25,000, hardly more than enough to fill three large 
"New York parishes at the present time. To guide and 

1 



2 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

rule this flock, the Reverend Mr. Carroll tells us, he could 
look to the assistance of some twenty-five priests — ^nine- 
teen in Maryland, five in Pennsylvania, and two or three 
without definite station. Of these, two had passed three- 
score and ten, and several others were close to this goal. 

The clergy of the United States, therefore, hardly ex- 
ceeded twenty-five; now if clergy and laity had been 
evenly distributed over a moderate area the clergy could 
have easily satisfied the spiritual needs of the faithful, 
but this was not the case. Twenty-five priests scattered 
over Maryland and Pennsylvania were wholly unable to 
attend to their spiritual wants, even if we leave the 
Church members scattered over the eleven other States 
entirely out of consideration. Moreoverj as we learn from 
the new superior's letter of acceptance, a steady though 
slow Catholic immigration had already set in, and these 
new Catholics, especially in the large cities, were of 
very doubtful quality and required exceptional pastoral 
care. These facts had deeply impressed the Rev. Mr. Car- 
roll, and even in his letter of acceptance he speaks of the 
need of high schools and a seminary as among the most 
pressing necessities of the new American Church. 

Little assistance could he expect from the Catholic 
countries of the Old World. Ireland and England still 
drew the priests of whom they were in want from the 
missionary colleges of France, Spain, Italy, and the 
Low Countries. The native clergy of Europe hardly suf- 
ficed for the needs of the several European nations and 
their colonies. And the prospects of the future were 
not more promising than the present conditions were sat- 
isfactory. The Society of Jesus had been suppressed, 
and thus a source of supply which, for more than two 
centuries, had furnished many missionaries, had been cut 
off. Yet if the newly organized American Church had 
relied upon self-help, she must have been condemned to 



THE CALL 3 

make bricks without straw. The Reverend Mr. Carroll 
realized these difficulties of the situation from the begin- 
ning, and he was not the man to remain idle when the 
necessities of his flock loudly cried for action. It is true, 
as we learn from one of the superior's letters to the apos- 
tolic nuncio at Paris, that he had received offers of serv- 
ice from German and Portuguese priests already in the 
country, but such help as this must needs have been spo- 
radic. In 1786 and 1787 we find him expressing to his 
European friends and to the officials of the Propaganda the 
conviction that the only hope for the steady supply of 
priests and for the growth of the Church depended on thQ 
establishment of a school for higher studies and of a semi-, 
nary in the United States ; nay, more, at the same time he 
used his utmost efforts to induce the Society of the Mary- 
land and Pennsylvania missionaries to take practical steps 
toward the foundation of an academy at Georgetown. In 
spite of opposition on the part of some of the clergy, 
he persisted in his project, and in 1789 the first Catholic 
college — a very modest institution — ^was opened at George- 
town in the District of Columbia. 

Pius YI and the heads of the Propaganda saw the wis- 
dom of the Rev. Mr. Carroll's plans, and when the Pope, 
in his bull dated ISTovember 6, 1789, appointed him bishop 
of the newly created see of Baltimore, the bull not only 
approved of the design to found a seminary in the new 
diocese, but made it the bishop's duty to establish such 
an institution. This injunction, which was in such 
marked agreement with Bishop Carroll's own views, no 
doubt inspired him with new energy to bring about the 
establishment of a clerical seminary, and he corresponded 
with various ecclesiastical authorities in Europe with a 
view to realizing the desires of the Holy Eather and of the 
Congregation for the Propagation of the Eaith. Among 



4: THE SULPICIAI^S IN THE UNITED STATES 

the prelates whose aid he invoked was the apostolic nuncio 
at Paris, Mgr. Dugnani. 

We need hardly remind our readers that Bishop Car- 
rolFs nomination to the see of Baltimore was only a few 
months subsequent to the outbreak of the French Kevo- 
lution. The taking of the Bastille on July 14, 1Y89, 
and the violent proceedings of the French States-General 
produced a profound impression upon the entire Chris- 
tian world ; above all, on the civil and religious authorities 
in France. The wisest and best men everywhere anx- 
iously foreboded the coming troubles, which threatened 
throne and Church alike. 

Among the most able and far-seeing of the French 
clergy was the Very Eev. James Andrew Emery, the 
ninth general superior of the Society of St. Sulpice. 
This distinguished ecclesiastic, prior to his appointment as 
head of the Sulpician Society, had held important posi- 
tions in that body, and as vicar-general of Angers had 
acquired much practical experience and great insight 
into political and ecclesiastical conditions in France. He 
had followed with a keen and attentive eye the disquiet- 
ing course of events and foresaw at an early date the dan- 
gers which threatened the French Church. His own So- 
ciety, he foresaw, might ere long be drawn into the revo- 
lutionary whirlpool and destroyed, and he began to cast 
about for a haven of refuge should disaster overtake it. 
The Abbe Emery had his attention drawn to America, 
partly, no doubt, because his Society already possessed a 
flourishing establishment in Canada, partly because the 
French had been the allies of the Americans in the War 
of Independence, and partly because in 1790 some French 
noblemen were organizing a French colony in the valley 
of the Ohio. 

I^ext to Bishop Carroll, it is the Abbe Emery to whom 
the Catholics of the United States owe the manifold bene- 




Most Eev. Johx Carroll, 
First Archbishop of Baltimore. 



THE CALL D 

fits whicli have accrued to them from the labors of the 
Sulpician Fathers, and it is therefore proper to give a 
short account of the life of this remarkable man. 

Bom at Gex, near the Swiss frontier, in August, 1732, 
he was entrusted to the Jesuits after the usual prelimi- 
nary education, and then took up his philosophical stud- 
ies at Lyons, and by competitive examination won a place 
mong the so-called Robertins in Paris. In both places 
>ie won distinction by his scholarship. Ordained to the 
priesthood in 1756, he not only successfully filled various 
places in the Sulpician seminaries, but when, in 1776, 
he was placed in charge of the Seminary of Angers, the 
bishop, M. de Grasse, soon named him chief vicar-general 
of the diocese. The duties of this position made him 
acquainted with active practical life, with the require- 
ments of business and the character of men. The wisdom 
and success with which he governed the diocese drew the 
attention of his brethren more and more to his many 
merits, and when, in 1782, the eighth superior-general of 
St. Sulpice, M. Le Gallic, resigned his position, M. Emery 
was elected his successor and took up his residence in 
Paris. Here his wise and sympathetic qualities gained 
him the good-will of all within and without his own So- 
ciety. When, after the outbreak of the Revolution, the 
Archbishop of Paris, Mgr. de Juigne, left France, he ap- 
I)ointed M. Emery one of his vicars-general who were to 
govern the great Archdiocese of Paris during the days of 
the Terror and the critical times that followed, until the 
Concordat revived the French hierarchy in 1802. Dur- 
ing all this time, beginning with the taking of the Bas- 
tille (1789), he remained at his post, residing in his sem- 
inary, when most of the churches of Paris and its eccle- 
siastical institutions were closed. With firmness he con- 
demned the constitutional oath of the clergy and with 
discretion he helped to guide the much-tried priests of 



D THE SULPICIANS 11^ THE UNITED STATES 

Paris amid the many successive problems which tortured 
their consciences. 

M. Emery was not destined to go through these dreadful 
times without personally experiencing the terrors of the 
Eevolution. On Pentecost Day, May 19, 1793, he was 
arrested at his home, taken to the Mairie, and thence to 
St. -Pelagic, one of the convents of Paris then used for a 
prison. However, his imprisonment did not last long, for, 
owing to the influence of a relative, Mme. de Yillette, he 
was liberated on May 31, and took refuge in that lady's 
house. But on the 16th of July following, he was again 
arrested and taken to the Cannes, whence he was trans- 
ferred to the Conciergerie, where he remained in prison 
for sixteen months. He was repeatedly taken before the 
revolutionary tribunal, and more than once expected to be 
guillotined. What were the mental tortures through which 
he passed during this imprisonment may be seen in part 
from the following letter to the Rev. Mr. li^agot, at that 
time the superior of the Sulpicians in Baltimore : 

"In a few hours I am about to appear before the revo- 
lutionary tribunal, my dear Nagot, and I expect to be 
sentenced to death. I avail myself of these last hours of 
my life to give you and all your confreres my blessing, 
and to assure you that in heaven, where I hope to be re- 
ceived through God's mercy, I shall not forget you. I 
shall not cease to beg of God to protect you and to make 
all your plans prosper, which. He knows, seek only His 
glory. I have sought to the end to help you, and I hope 
you will find assistance after my death. A letter of M. 
Martel, which informed me that he received a thousand 
ecus which you had left in the care of Mme. Gouy and 
that were confiscated, furnished one of the grounds for 
bringing charges against me. What a consolation to die 
the victim of my love for the Church and of my affection 
for you. In the name of God, I trust that your house and 



THE CALL 7 

the young men destined to be brought up there will always 
be looked upon as the nucleus of the undertaking. The 
blessings which result therefrom are unbounded. Do you, 
therefore, and the professors strive without ceasing to 
prepare yourselves for this work by studying local preju- 
dices and opinions and by preferring the spirit of retire- 
ment and prayer — ^the inward spirit — ^to every other good 
work that you may be able to do and all of which must 
be subordinated to the great work which Providence has 
entrusted to you. 

"You know and have under your eyes the rules of St. 
Sulpice. God will bless your works the more closely you 
observe these rules. Be one and all of you men of 
peace; show yourself such in the controversies in which 
you may be engaged, or rather, which you will avoid 
to the best of your ability, as far as prudence will permit, 
for I am convinced that your piety, your regularity, your 
retirement, and your withdrawal from the world, and your 
unselfishness will bring you more respect and will gain 
more souls for the Church than all the most learned dis- 
cussions. I need not ask you to love all your confreres 
as a father loves his children. Providence has made you 
their superior. Every society must have a center of unity, 
and the superior of Baltimore should always be the su- 
perior of the Sulpicians employed elsewhere in the 
United States. For your security and the maintenance 
of your little property, use all the means suggested by 
Christian prudence. Do not put off until to-morrow what 
can be done for this purpose to-day. 

"I fear I shall not have the time to close my letter. I 
hasten to beg of you to convey to Messrs. Levadoux, Rich- 
ard, Flaget, Ciquard, my last expression of affection for 
them. How delighted I was to receive news from the first 
three in my prison ! I am anxious that my answer should 
reach them. You will also convey my regards to Messrs. 



8 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

David and Marechal. I cordially greet all the colleagues 
that work in the same house as yourself. God knows how 
dear they are to my heart. 

"I finish with St. Paulas words: ^Ego scio quia non 
amplius videhitis faciem meam. , , , Et nunc commendo 
vos Deo, et verho graiice ipsius, qui potens est cedificare 
et dare hcereditatem in sanctificatis omnibus/ 

"I must not forget the young gentlemen you took with 
you; you will tell them that I thought of them during 
my last moments and that I pray God to strengthen them 
and to confirm them in His grace. 

"Please assure Mgr. Carroll of the deep respect which I 
entertain for him. Tell him that I recommend you and 
all your confreres to his kindness and protection, of 
which I hope you will continue to be worthy. 

"God bless M. Delavau ; he must feel that God inspired 
him with the thought of accompanying you. I wish the 
domestics with you all peace and blessing." ^ 

On April 4, 1794, M. Emery was transferred from the 
Conciergerie to the College de Plessis, another Parisian 
prison, improvised during the Terror. His letter, written 
from this prison to M. Montaigne, one of his Sulpician 
brethren, and dated April 28, 1793, gives us even a 
clearer insight into the spirit, the aims, the motives, the 
principles, and the interests of this man. It shows ns 
his faith in God's mercy, his coolness and courage in 
what he believed to be the presence of death, his attach- 
ment to his Society and his brethren, and his special in- 
terest in the Sulpician colony at Baltimore as destined to 
keep alive the institute of which he was the guardian: 

"In a few hours I am to appear before the revolution- 
ary tribunal. I have no doubt that I shall be condemned 

iThe original of this letter is in the archives of the seminary at Balti- 
more. Gosselin, "Vie de M. Emery," vol. i, p. 343 sqq. 



THE CALL 9 

to death. So I must express to you without a moment's 
loss my last sentiments. I begin by thanking you for the 
affection which you have shown me during the last days 
of my life, for the zeal with which you have worked to 
prolong my days, and for your anxiety to provide for all 
my needs. May God reward you therefor both here on 
earth and hereafter. Please assure my worthy predeces- 
sor, M. Le Gallic, and MM. Crenier, Bechet, Montevis, 
and Duclaux that my feelings toward them have remained 
the same to the end (these are well known to them). That 
I earnestly wish them the lengthening of their days in 
these difficult times and that I pray God with all my 
heart that, like you, they may grow in grace and in char- 
ity and that we may be all reunited in heaven. Please 
tell the young men who have been faithful to us to the 
end, and especially tell Lagardiole, that I die greatly 
moved by their kindness, and grateful to them for the 
favors they have done us and for all the services they have 
rendered us. 

"Please thank Adam, also, and Bazin,^ and assure 
them of my friendship. I recommend them to your con- 
sideration. 

"If it is in your power hereafter to keep up communica- 
tion with members of the Society of St. Sulpice, tell them 
that I died a victim of my love for them; for it was in 
order to be able to help them, to be a medium of corre- 
spondence for them whilst this was possible and allowable, 
to watch over the venerated remains of M. Olier and M. de 
Bretonvilliers, that I have resisted all kinds of pressure 
urging me to withdraw from the seminary and to disap- 
pear. I do not fathom God's designs; they are impene- 
trable, and I bow before them. I dare not, therefore, 
speculate on the restoration of peace in our country, on 
the return and the reunion of my brethren. I only remark 

* The former was M. Emery's domestic and the latter the porter of the 
seminary. 



10 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

that it is mj most ardent wish that they may be reunited. 

"I die in the hope and consolation that the name and 
spirit of St. Sulpice will not wholly perish. Maryland 
will preserve them. You know my sentiments as to that 
institution, so dear to my heart and so important to re- 
ligion. I have every reason to think that you will make 
these known if necessary and that you will carry them out 
faithfully. Farewell, my dear M. Montaigne. If this let- 
ter reaches you before my decease, you will aid me with 
your prayers at the moment of death, and with those of 
the persons whom you will inform of my situation. I die 
trusting to God's mercy, which has never helped me more 
strikingly than during the last days of my life. 

"May the blessing of M. Olier and of all the holy priests 
of our Society rest on you." ^ 

But M. Emery was not destined to perish by the guillo- 
tine. When Robespierre fell, six months after this letter 
was written, the gates of the College de Plessis were thrown 
open, and most of the unfortunates who had so long lin- 
gered there in fear and trembling were restored to the 
outer world, and among them M. Emery (October 25, 
1794). His friend, M. Montaigne, at first gave him hos- 
pitality, but the superior of the Sulpicians felt that the 
seminary was the proper place for him. Still, he soon rec- 
ognized that the storm had not blown over and that Paris 
was not a place of safety for him. He betook himself to 
his birthplace at Gex, on the Swiss border. Immediately 
on his arrival there he sent a letter to Pope Pius VI, with 
whom he had already corresponded during his captivity. 
He gave the Pope an account of the condition of his So- 
ciety and his plans for the future. As to his own person, 
he expressed the desire to join his brethren who were 
working in the United States, for "if France were lost to 
the Catholic Church it is very likely that God has pre- 

1 Gosselin, op. cit.j vol. i, 379. 




Very Eey. James Andrew Emery, 
Ninth Superior General of St. S.ilpice. 



THE CALL 11 

pared in the United States a compensation for the loss of 
France." ^ 

From the answer sent to M. Emery, March 10, 1796, 
by M. Caleppi, at the Pope's command, we learn that Pius 
VT was much impressed by the zeal and devotion to the 
Holy See evinced by M. Emery and his Society during 
the trials of the Kevolution, and that he approved his in- 
tention to betake himself to the United States. At the 
same time, M. Emery was advised that, however much his 
American plans were appreciated, his presence in France, 
where he had so great an influence for encouraging and 
guiding the clergy, was, for the time being, more impor- 
tant. In accordance with this suggestion, the loyal old 
priest remained in his native country. He returned to 
Paris, where he resumed his activity as one of the vicars- 
general who governed the archdiocese of Paris in the ab- 
sence of the archbishop, Mgr. de Juigne. By his prudence 
and wisdom he maintained harmony, as far as possible, 
among the remaining loyal priests, and prevented the 
widening of the schism which was the result of the civil 
constitution of the clergy. In this way he tided over the 
dangerous eddies which threatened to wreck the metro- 
politan Church until Bonaparte brought order to the 
French state and comparative peace to the French Church. 

His ability and wisdom soon became known to ITa- 
poleon, who respected his learning, his practical wisdom, 
and the mixture of simplicity, boldness, and tact which 
led him to speak the truth without fear of the conse- 
quences. Thrice the emperor offered him a bishopric, 
which Emery thrice refused, for to him it appeared trea- 
son to abandon the cause of his Society, all broken up and 
dispersed as it was. Though at first angered by the good 
abbe's refusal of the sees of Arras, Autun, and Troyes 
(1802), the stubborn-minded Corsican soon became recon- 
ciled to his sturdy sense of duty, and permitted him to 

1 Gosselin, op. cit., vol. i, 379. 



12 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

build up again the Society of St. Sulpice. However, 
the head of St. Sulpice never possessed the real confi- 
dence of the wily Corsican. One day he would advise 
his uncle, Cardinal Fesch, to lay in as valuable a store of 
theological knowledge as M. Emery possessed, on the next 
he would criticize the same cardinal for being too 
much under the influence of the Sulpicians, who were a 
pack of intriguers. 

Meantime the unwearied superior continued rebuilding 
his Society, and in a few years it again had control of a 
dozen diocesan seminaries. Nor did M. Emery give way 
in the least to the spirit of innovation. What MM. Olier 
and de Bretonvilliers had enacted must be carried out to 
the letter, ancient rules and customs observed, and the 
spirit of the founders respected in every detail. When Na- 
poleon had consulted Cardinal Fesch he found all these pro- 
ceedings of the aged superior, who had now become a decid- 
ed septuagenarian, praiseworthy, or at least tolerable ; but 
when he lent his ear to the whisperings of that treacherous 
policeman, Fouche, he threatened the very existence of the 
reviving Society. Nevertheless, he appointed M. Emery 
to the council of the newly founded University of France, 
and made him a member of a commission of cardinals and 
bishops summoned to find the means of circumventing the 
imprisoned pontiff, Pius VII, who was struggling for the 
rights of the Church. The cardinals and bishops found 
a way out of the labyrinth, but Emery mildly but posi- 
tively declined to sign their document. He did not openly 
condemn Napoleon's marriage with Marie Louise, but he 
stayed at home when the ceremony took place. At last 
Napoleon's patience was exhausted, and in May, 1810, 
under the influence of Fouche, he ordered the Minister 
of Public Worship to dissolve the Congregation of St. Sul- 
pice and to compel the venerable superior, who was in his 
seventy-eighth year, to leave the seminary. Again the 



THE CALI* 13 

threatened blow was not delivered, though M. Emery him- 
self was obliged to quit the seminary. Once more the em- 
peror called a commission of cardinals and bishops, making 
M. Emery a member, and again he was the only simple 
priest on the commission. The violent language of the 
arbitrary Corsican and his tools dragooned the prelates into 
an effort to comply with his wishes. They sacrificed the 
Pope's right to confirm the emperor's candidates for va- 
cant bishoprics, and even went so far as to consent to 
a national council, which was only too likely to lead to a 
national schism. M. Emery, in moderate but positive 
terms, disagreed with them. 

Then Napoleon summoned the entire commission to ap- 
pear before him and the grandees of his council of state, 
and at great length inveighed against the obstinacy of the 
Pope and threatened the most radical measures. Not a 
word of protest or dissent came from the great ecclesiastical 
dignitaries. Then Napoleon turned to M. Emery and asked 
him what he had to say on the question. "Sire, I can 
have no other opinion than what is contained in the cate- 
chism published by your orders," and then he showed 
that, according to the catechism, the Pope was the supreme 
ruler of the Church. Napoleon was struck by this answer 
and impressed by the aged priest's further exposition of 
his position. Three times he modestly but firmly con- 
tested the emperor's views and defended the pontiff's 
rights. Of the distinguished prelates Napoleon hardly took 
any notice. When he arose to dismiss the conference he po- 
litely bowed to M. Emery and to no one else. M. Emery 
left at once, whereupon several of the prelates approached 
Napoleon to excuse the octogenarian. "You are mistaken," 
he replied; "I am not at all displeased with M. Emery; 
he spoke like a man who knows his business. I like to be 
spoken to in this way. Of course, he does not agree with 
my views, but every one must have his own opinion free 



14 THE SULPICIAlvrS IN THE UNITED STATES 

here." Before leaving, Talleyrand, who had been present 
at the conference, said to one of the prelates: "I knew 
M. Emery had much pluck, but I did not think he had so 
much. He has the ability frankly to give his views to the 
emperor without displeasing him." A few days after- 
ward Napoleon told his uncle, who desired to speak to 
him on Church matters: "Be silent; you are an igno- 
ramus. Where did you learn your theology ? M. Emery, 
who knows his theology, is the man with whom I must 
speak on these matters." ^ 

A few months later, death called the venerable Sulpician 
to his reward. To the last he met his trials with gentle- 
ness, firmness, and a smiling face, convinced that St. Sul- 
pice, though for the second time under his rule smitten 
and broken up, would rise again and do even more glori- 
ous work in the future than it had done in the past. 

Such was the man destined by Providence to help Bishop 
Carroll in his need, and to assist him to establish a semi- 
nary according to the best European pattern, to furnish 
him with missionaries especially fitted to do the work of 
the Church in the new republic, and to dissipate much 
of the prejudice still rampant there, notwithstanding the 
toleration proclaimed by its constitution. The men whom 
M. Emery could send to the aid of the head of the Ameri- 
can Church were the best-trained educators of candidates 
for the priesthood to be found in Europe, devoted to this 
work and to nothing else, having no other aims and no 
other vocation. Their rules forbade them to take up any 
exterior form of ministry, as they called it. They were 
not to preach to the faithful, no matter what their elo- 
quence; not to assume the direction of nuns or of ladies 
in the world, whatever might be their wisdom ; they were 
solely to perfect their scholarship and to develop their 
science of guiding the future pastors of souls, not only 

1 Gosselin, op. cit., vol. ii, p. 300 sqq. 



THE CALL 15 

by their extensive learning, but also by practising and 
inculcating the practice of all that wisdom and experience 
had shown to be productive of solid virtue, good habits, 
and moral steadiness. Such men must needs bring out all 
that was best and admirable in the scholars entrusted to 
them ; they must make a very favorable impression upon 
the people among whom their lot was to be cast, for, as 
events proved, these learned but unpretentious gentlemen 
were fated to be for many long years most effective mis- 
sionaries in their new home. 

They went forth to preach the Gospel, not among sav- 
ages, where the missionary must combine self-denial and 
enthusiasm with something of the spirit of adventure, but 
among people whose civilization differed but little from 
their own and who must chiefly be impressed by the holi- 
ness, the seK-sacrifice, and the learning of the men who 
brought them new views and a new religion. It was a 
great advantage to the budding Church of the United 
States that Dubourg, Dubois, Marechal, Flaget, Brute, and 
David were men, not of the type of missionary who might 
impress an Indian tribe, but who in learning, scholarship, 
and culture were vastly superior to the average American 
minister of the Gospel. They were well equipped to 
mingle in the foremost ranks of society, as we may see 
from the impression produced by the Abbe Dubois on the 
best men of Virginia. The same favorable impressions 
were created by the other Sulpicians whom M. Emery 
sent to America. They combined fervent zeal for the 
Catholic faith with polished and agreeable manners, great 
tact, and the absence of all aggressiveness. 

We now return to Bishop CarrolFs efforts to establish the 
first American seminary. As already mentioned, among 
the European prelates whose assistance he sought to carry 
out his plan, was the papal nuncio in Paris, Mgr. Du- 
gnani. Just at this time M. Emery, foreseeing the dangers 



16 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

threatening the Society of St. Sulpice in France and cast- 
ing about for a new field of activity for his Society, had 
his attention drawn to the United States. But he little 
thought of settling his brethren at Baltimore, his eyes be- 
ing at first directed farther westward, toward Ohio. 

In 1789-90 M. du Val d'Espremesnil, the Marquis de 
Marnesia, and a number of other Eoyalist gentlemen em- 
barked on a fantastic scheme of colonization,^ which at- 
tracted great attention in France among all classes of peo- 
ple, including the journalists. The authors of this scheme, 
which for various reasons proved a total failure, not only 
planned but partly made several settlements in the Scioto 
district, among them Marietta and Gallipolis. One of 
the Sulpicians of Paris, the Rev. M. Gallet, suggested 
that the Society found a seminary at Gallipolis, but when 
M. Emery discussed the scheme with Mgr. Dugnani, the 
latter drew his attention to the newly founded bishopric 
of Baltimore and to Bishop Carroll's plan of founding a 
seminary for the education of native priests. The hint was 
not thrown away on M. Emery. Some time afterward, 
shortly before August 15, 1790, he called a general assem- 
bly of his Society at Paris. He spoke to his brethren of 
the danger of their dispersion, and, waving aside the 
thought of joining the Scioto colony, he warmly espoused 
Mgr. Dugnani's views on the foundation of a seminary 
at Baltimore. The assembly was convinced; it approved 
of the project, and, what is more, it authorized the su- 
perior-general to devote at least a part of the savings of 
the Society to the realization of the scheme. 

M. Emery lost not a moment, but forthwith put himself 
in communication with Bishop Carroll, who, since the 
early part of the summer, had been in England arrang- 
ing for his consecration, which was administered by Bishop 
Wahnesley at Lulworth Castle on August 15, 1790. In 

1 See Herbermann, "A French Emigr6 Colony in the United States, 
1789-1793," in '•Historical Records and Studies," vol. i, pp. 77-96. 



THE CALL 17 

his letter M. Emery begged Bishop Carroll, if he approved 
the proposal and if the latter intended to pass through 
Paris, to allow him to confer with him on the subject. 
At the same time he offered him the hospitality of the semi- 
nary.^ For some reason unknown to us, the bishop did 
not go to Paris, but it was agreed between him and the 
Sulpician superior that the Kev. M. !N"agot, at that time 
a director of the Paris Seminary, should meet him at Lon- 
don. A letter from Bishop Carroll to the Papal Secretary 
of State, Cardinal Antonelli, dated September 9, 1790, 
gives us his version of the transaction. "At the request of 
His Excellency, the apostolic nuncio, one of the directors 
of St. Sulpice (M. l^agot) came to London. In our con- 
ferences we have determined to establish a seminary at 
Baltimore. From this institution we must hope great ad- 
vantages will accrue to religion. In my opinion, it is 
clearly a providential dispensation, in our regard, that 
such excellent priests are inspired to bring us such valua- 
ble help at a time when our new diocese is in such pressing 
need of their services." ^ 

About a month after his consecration, Bishop Carroll 
wrote to Lord Arundell as follows : "We arranged all pre- 
liminaries and I expect at Baltimore early in the summer 
some of the gentlemen of that institution to set hard to 
work ; and I have reason to believe they will find means to 
carry their plan into effect. Thus we shall be provided 
with a house fit for the reception of, and further improve- 
ment in the higher sciences of, the young men whom God 
may call to an ecclesiastical state after their classical edu- 
cation is finished in our Georgetown academy. While I 
cannot but thank Divine Providence for opening on us such 
a prospect, I feel great sorrow in the reflection that we owe 

iGosseln, op. cit., vol. i, p. 232. 

2 "Les Missions Sulpiciennes" in "L'Universit6 Catholique," Aug. loth, 
1905, p. 570. 



18 THE SULPICIAISTS IN THE UNITED STATES 

such a benefit to the distressed state of religion in 
France." ^ 

M. Emery did not fail to inform the Eoman authorities 
of his agreement with the Bishop of Baltimore, and re- 
ceived a letter warmly approving it. This letter of the 
Holy Father greatly encouraged the Sulpicians, and they 
proceeded at once to carry out the new undertaking. The 
first step was to select the pioneers who were to found the 
seminary at Baltimore. The choice made by M. Emery 
showed alike his knowledge of the needs of the new estab- 
lishment, his acquaintance with the characters of his 
confreres, and his determination to give to the Church 
of the United States the very best forces that he had at 
his disposal. He selected to be head of the new seminary 
M. !N'agot, a man full of wisdom and of years (he was 
fifty-seven years of age), who had been connected with the 
Paris Seminary for many years. Before becoming a di- 
rector there, he had been professor of theology and head 
of the school of philosophy. That he enjoyed the special 
confidence of the superior-general, is evident from their 
correspondence. One of M. Emery's last letters was di- 
rected to his venerable friend. Among his former scholars 
had been the Irish priest, the celebrated Abbe Edgeworth, 
who, at the risk of his life, prepared Louis XYI for death. 

"Next to M. Nagot, must be mentioned the Eeverend M. 
Gamier, a very able man, especially as a linguist, and 
destined in after times to become a close friend of M. 
Emery. He was twenty-nine years of age at this time, 
but had already been professor of theology at Lyons. The 
other two Sulpieians who accompanied M. ^agot were the 
Eev. M. Levadoux, director of the seminary at Bourges, 
and the Kev. M. Tessier, a native of the diocese of Angers, 
then thirty-two years of age, who had been professor for 
two years at the seminary at Viviers. There was a fifth 

1 Shea, "Life and Times of Archbishop Carroll," vol. ii, p. 379. 



THE CALL 19 

priest in the company, but lie was not a Sulpician. This 
was the Very Kev. Canon Delavan of the diocese of Tours. 
The wild excesses of the Eevolution had so impressed the 
old gentleman that he determined to leave his country 
in good time, and had arranged with the Sulpicians to 
live with them at Baltimore and pay for his support. 

M. Emery was certainly happy in the choice of the 
priests whom he sent to America, but he did more for the 
new institution. As a seminary without students would 
be a paradox, and as it was very doubtful that Georgetown, 
Bishop Carroll's new academy, would be able to furnish 
students of theology for some years to come, he made 
vigorous efforts to secure such students in the French 
seminaries under Sulpician guidance, and he was not un- 
successful. Five young Levites, all of them speaking the 
English language, volunteered to become the pioneers of 
the Baltimore seminary theologians. They were MM. 
Tulloh and Floyd, both natives of England ; Perrineau, an 
English-speaking Canadian; Edward Caldwell, bom at 
Elizabethtown, !N'ew Jersey, a recent convert, and, lastly, 
Jean de Montdesir of the diocese of Chartres. 

'Not was the material side of the new institution neg- 
lected. A friend of M. Emery had made him a donation 
of 30,000 livres with which to start this new branch of the 
Sulpicians. From the savings of the Society of St. Sul- 
pice, as we learn from a letter of the Sulpician superior 
to Bishop Carroll, Father Emery devoted 100,000 francs 
to the establishment of the new seminary. We know that, 
in addition to the purchase money of the seminary build- 
ings and grounds, many other expenses were covered. The 
Society of St. Sulpice paid, not only for the passage to 
Baltimore of M. !N'agot and his fellow-professors, but also 
for their maintenance during two years after their arrival. 
Moreover, they were provided with the necessary sacred 
vessels and vestments for the use of the priests, altar-lin- 



20 THE SULPICIANS IN THE XTNITED STATES 

ens, and decorations, and a collection of theological and 
other spiritual books as the beginning of a library. Surely 
Providence had been kind to Bishop Carroll when it pro- 
vided him, not only with a splendid seminary staff, but 
also with its material outfit, without entailing any outlay 
on his part. 

But M. Emery was not satisfied with providing for the 
physical needs of his brethren. His motives for dispatch- 
ing them to the new world were nobler and loftier, his 
foremost aim being that they should carry on the work of 
St. Sulpice in the same spirit with which it had been in- 
spired in France, the work of providing worthy and holy 
priests for the faithful. We cannot do better than to trans- 
late a part of the instructions, which, along with the rules 
of the Society, were to be the guide of M. ISTagot and the 
other professors: 

"The priests of St Sulpice sent to found a seminary 
at Baltimore," wrote M. Emery, "will endeavor, above all 
things, to be inspired by the loftiest ideal of their vocation. 
They will bear in mind that their seminary is the first and 
will be for a long time the only institution of the kind 
in the United States of America, that it is intended to edu- 
cate in this seminary all the apostolic laborers who in the 
designs of Providence are destined to strengthen Catholics 
in their faith, to bring back heretics to the bosom of the 
Church, to bear the light of the Gospel to the Redskins; 
in a word, to spread the kingdom of Christ and His Church 
in a country much larger than the whole of Europe. 
Therefore, they will do everything in their power to reach 
a high degree of sanctity, convinced that they will do more 
good by their holy lives than by their teachings and their 
exhortations. Let them often call to mind that they are 
destined to perpetuate the spirit and the name of their 
Society in the new world ; and let them always keep before 



THE CAIiL 21 

their eyes the rules and the practices of St. Sulpice, in 
order to be guided by them as far as possible. . . . Since 
it has pleased God to bless till now the work of the So- 
ciety of St. Sulpice, experience convinces us that its spirit 
is good; and since its proper and characteristic aim is to 
concern itself only with the education of the clergy, the 
directors of the seminary at Baltimore will confine and con- 
secrate themselves entirely to this work ; and if at the be- 
ginning and imder unusual circumstances they find them- 
selves compelled to take up duties foreign to this work, 
they must consider themselves to be under conditions out 
of their element, and not to be satisfied until they can re- 
turn to their special mode of life. . . . 

"The peculiar spirit of the Society, moreover, is a spirit 
of unworldliness. They will, therefore, have as little in- 
tercourse as possible with the world ; and of all their pious 
practices, those to which they will especially devote them- 
selves are meditation and their annual retreat. In order 
to strengthen themselves in their love of the inner spirit, 
they will adopt the festivals in honor of the inner life of 
Our Lord and the Blessed Virgin. . . . 

"The seminary at Baltimore will bear the name of St. 
Sulpice, will be under the special protection of the Blessed 
Virgin, and will also accept the other patrons of St. Sul- 
pice. . . ." 

Having thus provided for their wants, both corporal and 
spiritual, M. Emery bade farewell to his brethren who were 
destined to bring the Society of St. Sulpice to the United 
States. They embarked on April 8, 1791, at St. Malo, in 
Brittany, where an American vessel had been chartered. 
Among their fellow-passengers was the celebrated Chateau- 
briand, at that time a young man twenty years of age, for 
whom the Sulpicians seem to have had no charm. He him- 
self tells us that he met them four years too late, having 
in the meanwhile become strong-minded, that is to say, 



22 THE SULPICIANS 11?^ THE UNITED STATES 

interpreting his comment, weak-minded. Tlieir voyage 
was long and painful, lasting three months and two days 
(July 10). 

Bishop Carroll was still in Europe, and so the Sulpician 
company was welcomed at Baltimore by the Reverend 
Charles Sewall, resident pastor at Baltimore, who took 
them to a house at 94 Baltimore Street. This house, which 
was near the present city hall, has disappeared, owing to 
the opening of the present ^orth Street. Bishop Carroll 
had made sure of a hospitable welcome for the heads of the 
new seminary by announcing their coming to the faithful 
of his diocese. "I propose," he said, "fixing them very 
near to my own home, the cathedral of Baltimore, that 
they may be, as it were, the clergy of the Church, and 
contribute to the dignity of divine worship. This is a 
great and auspicious event for our diocese, but it is a mel- 
ancholy reflection that we owe so great a blessing to the 
lamentable catastrophe in France." ^ 

M. INagot, the superior of the new seminary, lost no 
time in finding a home for himself and his brethren in 
the metropolis of Maryland. At this time, of course, Balti- 
more was but a village compared with the great city of 
to-day. M. !N'agot, on looking around for a suitable site 
and building, for there was no time to erect a new building 
for the seminary, chose the place where the seminary is 
still located, at Paca and St. Mary's Streets, which, in 
1790, was occupied by a public house called "One Mile 
Tavern." This he hired at first, but shortly afterward he 
bought it for £850, equivalent to about $2,266.66 at the 
present time. Alterations were made without delay and 
pushed with such vigor that on the 18th of July the Sul- 
picians were able to occupy their new home. Four days 
later M. ]f agot could celebrate the first Mass in the chapel. 
The other rooms were next altered according to need, fur- 

1 Gosselin, op. cit., vol. i, p. 234 ; Shea, "Life and Times of Archbishop 
Carroll," vol. ii, p. 380. 



THE CALL 25d 

nished for the new occupants, and on the 3d of October the 
regular work of the seminary was begun. 

From the very beginning the impression made by the 
seminary priests on bishop, clergy, and laity was most fa- 
vorable. As early as the 23d of April, 1792, only a few 
months after his return from Europe to Baltimore, Bishop 
Carroll wrote to the Cardinal Prefect of Propaganda : 

"The establishment of a seminary is certainly a new and 
extraordinary spectacle for the people of this country ; the 
remarkable piety of these priests is admirable, and their 
example is a stimulant and spur to all who feel themselves 
called to work in the vineyard of the Lord. Such are the 
great and remarkable effects of God's bounty. But what 
is still more important is that, owing to the establishment 
of this seminary, the clergy will be brought up in the 
purity of faith and in holiness of conduct. All our hopes 
are founded on the seminary of Baltimore. Since the 
arrival of the priests of St. Sulpice, the celebration of the 
offices of the Church and the dignity of divine worship 
have made a great impression, so that, though the church 
of Baltimore is hardly worthy of the name of cathedral, 
if we consider its style and its size, it may well be looked 
upon as an episcopal church in view of the number of its 
clergy." ^ 

iAndr6 in "L'Universit^ Catholique," Lyons, vol. lix, nouvelle s6rie, pp. 
574-575. 



Chapter II 
The Beginnings of St. Sulpice in the ITnited States 

The Kev. M. !N'agot and his fellow-professors had now 
permanently made their home in Baltimore and were 
ready for work. But before we begin the story of these 
pioneer Sulpicians, it seems not inappropriate to say a 
few words in general about the gentlemen of St. Sulpice 
and their association. In many particulars the Sulpicians 
are unlike the other Catholic religious. In fact, they do 
not call themselves religious and are not such in the canon- 
ical sense of the word. Because their lives and their work 
do not bring them in contact with the world, they are but 
little known even among the Catholic laity. If the other 
orders be likened to the golden sunflower, which stands 
in the open and challenges the attention and admiration 
even of the casual passer-by, the Sulpicians may be com- 
pared to the modest violet, which conceals its fascinating 
colors and its charming fragrance in some unobserved 
nook. The Sulpicians are numbered by the tens where 
mai\y other religious societies are numbered by the thou- 
sands. It is, therefore, not surprising that they should 
be comparatively unknown and that it should appear need- 
ful, when beginning this record of their work in the 
United States, to say a few words about their aims, their 
peculiarities, and their history. 

One of the most vital and fruitful measures of the 
Council of Trent was the decree for the reform of clerical 
education passed on July 15, 1563. It provided especially 

24 



BEGINNINGS OF ST. SULPICE IN THE UNITED STATES 25 

for the training of poor candidates for the secular priest- 
hood. The wealthy could go to the universities and the 
monks to the monastic schools, while a large proportion 
of the secular clergy received a superficial and mostly 
practical education from the country pastors. It em- 
braced the explanation of the Pater Noster, the Credo, 
the liturgical formulas, the Poenitentiale, the Church cal- 
endar, the liturgical chant, the ability to write documents 
and letters, and the explanation of the most important 
parts of Holy Writ, especially the Psalms.^ When the 
Keformation, therefore, invaded the rural parishes and 
preachers from the towns appealed to the village farmer, 
it was clear that the country priest must receive a new 
and fuller training. In England Cardinal Pole started 
this new education in his diocese in 1556, and here for 
the first time we meet with the word semmary to desig- 
nate an institution for the education of candidates for the 
priesthood. After the Council of Trent, more or less 
strenuous efforts were made in various countries to carry 
out its decree and to establish seminaries. 

The decree requiring the establishment of diocesan 
seminaries was passed largely under the inspiration of 
the archbishop of Milan, St. Charles Borromeo, in July, 
1563. He was the nephew of Pope Pius TV, and strongly 
urged his uncle to compel the enforcement of the decree. 
The Pontiff readily responded, and in 1565 the Grand 
Seminary of Eome was founded. The Council of Trent 
adjourned shortly after the passage of the seminary de- 
cree, and the returning Fathers were face to face with 
this new practical problem. In Italy the work was taken 
in hand at once by several prelates, foremost among 
them. Cardinal Borromeo, who in 1565 opened his Grand 
Seminary at Milan, which he placed in charge of the 
Jesuits. 

* Siebengartner in Herder's "Kirchen-Lexikon." 



26 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

As the Tridentine decree enacted that the episcopal 
seminaries were not to be placed in the hands of regulars 
■ except with the special sanction of the Holy See, this ar- 
rangement proved only temporary. A few years later, 
St. Charles placed his seminary in charge of the Oblate 
priests of his diocese. Like the Oratorians of St. Philip 
Keri, the Oblates were a society of secular priests, who 
lived in community, but took no permanent vow. Their 
superior was the archbishop. Although not founded ex- 
clusively to be seminary teachers, for they undertook all 
kinds of sacerdotal work, nevertheless, if the Milan semi- 
nary was to be placed in the hands of secular priests, the 
Oblates were obviously especially well fitted for this work. 
We have dwelt upon this foundation, as the Oblates of 
St. Charles were the first society of secular priests to 
whom was confided the education of candidates for the 
priesthood in diocesan seminaries, and their example, no 
doubt, greatly influenced the later seminary movement in 
France. 

In Germany the seminary movement, as we may call 
it, proceeded more slowly, doubtless being retarded by 
the religious wars which afflicted the country at that time. 
The first seminaries we learn of were rudimentary, the 
earliest being established at Eichstaedt (1564), Wiirz- 
burg (1570), and Breslau (1571). Their professorial 
staff was limited and their disciplinary arrangements 
more or less experimental. However, here, as elsewhere, 
the organization of institutions followed, in the main, the 
plan of the Collegium Germanicum, founded by St. Ig- 
natius of Loyola at Rome in 1552 for German clerical 
students. We must not forget to state that in Germany, 
too, a society of secular priests had a great share in the 
foundation and conduct of seminaries. 

The first attempt at carrying out in Spain, though im- 
perfectly, the Tridentine Decree on seminaries was not 



BEGINIS'INGS OF ST. SULPICE IX THE UNITED STATES 27 

made until 1570. In France we hear of seminary proj- 
ects, first of all, at the assembly of the clergy in the year 
1579, and later at various diocesan synods. Whether 
these resolutions brought any immediate practical fruit is 
not so clear. Only so much is certain, that the founda- 
tion of seminaries greatly depended on the assistance of 
the government. 

On the other hand, it is in France that we meet, as 
early as 1584, with a society of secular priests organized 
like the Oblates of St. Charles Borromeo, and especially 
devoted to clerical instruction. This was the Congrega- 
tion of Adrian Bourdoise, which had charge of the semi- 
naries of Paris, Beauvais, and Chartres between 1584 
and 1655. The Priests of the Mission, better known to 
us as Lazarists, were also approved by the Popes as a 
society of secular priests, one of whose objects was the 
government of clerical seminaries, and St. Vincent de 
Paul, their founder, laid down special rules which were 
to guide them in governing their institutions. The foun- 
dation period of the Lazarists extended from 1632 to 
1658. In 1611-1613 Cardinal de Berulle established in 
France a modified form of the Congregation of the Ora- 
tory founded by St. Philip I^eri in 1583. While St. 
Philip's Society, which, like the Oblates of St. Charles, 
was a society of secular priests, stood aloof from the semi- 
nary problem, the Oratory of Cardinal de Berulle devoted 
itself vigorously to the work of higher education, esp^ 
cially with the view of improving the education of the 
clergy. Cardinal de Berulle died in 1629, at which time 
the Oratorians had made great progress in France, though 
they seem to have had little to do with seminary educa- 
tion. 

Toward the middle of the seventeenth century, Jean 
Jacques Olier (1608-1657), a zealous priest who, among 
other reforms, had tried to put an end to duelling, had his 



28 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

attention drawn to the crying need of institutions for the 
education of the secular clergy in France. He was a 
close friend of St. Vincent de Paul, who was no less con- 
vinced than the Abbe Olier that immediate steps should 
be taken to supply the wants of the French clergy in this 
direction and to carry out more perfectly the decree of 
the Council of Trent. In fact, as is evident, the idea 
of meeting this pressing want was in the air in France 
about the middle of the seventeenth century, leading to 
the foundation of the Yincentian Congregation by St. 
Vincent de Paul and of the Sulpician Society, in 1642, 
by the Abbe Olier. 

The missionary experiences of M. Olier and of St. 
Vincent de Paul had impressed upon them the necessity 
of speedily remedying the evils which had sprung from 
the inadequate training of the clergy, especially of the 
lower and country clergy. Both had for a number of 
years been engaged in missionary labors in many different 
parts of France, in city and country. Being keen observ- 
ers, endowed with sound judgment, as well as men of ac- 
tion, they set to work without delay. In 1642 the Abbe 
Olier was called to be the pastor of the parish of St. Sul- 
pice at Paris, looked upon at the time as the least godly 
parish in the metropolis, and M. Olier at first felt disin- 
clined to shoulder the burden. But becoming convinced 
that it was God's will that he should undertake the work, 
he did so with vigor and wisdom. Some of his old mis- 
sionary friends, men full of the same spirit and zeal as 
the pastor himself and cherishing the same ideas regarding 
the education of the French clergy, joined him at St. Sul- 
pice, ready to help him realize his schemes. In a short 
time the parish of St. Sulpice was reformed, and they 
were prepared to inaugurate the work of training the 
young levites for the Church of France. 

As M. Olier was eminently a practical man, his new 




Jeax Jacques Olier, 
Founder of the Society of St, Sulpice. 



BEGINNINGS OF ST. SULPICE IN THE UNITED STATES 29 

position as pastor of St Sulpice was utilized by him to 
help along the scheme which more than all others filled 
his heart and mind. He made the education of his semi- 
nary students directly practical by associating them with 
himself in the care of the parish. Sunday after Sunday 
they came from the seminary to take part, according to 
their degree, in the services of the church, familiarizing 
themselves with the liturgy and lending additional gran- 
deur to the offices of the Church. They catechised the 
young people of the parish so that they became well in- 
structed in the commandments of God and the Church. 
This system was so fruitful in its results that it was con- 
tinued as long as the seminary maintained its connection 
with the church of St. Sulpice. In fact, it gave to the 
new association of seminary teachers the name of "So- 
ciety of St. Sulpice." 

The new Society was not the product of mere theory. 
It was built up on the experience which the founder had 
gathered in his missionary days, and on that which he 
was gathering as the practical shepherd of souls in his new 
parish. Like a thoroughly practical man, he did not bind 
the new institute by hard and fast lines from the beginning, 
but left the rules and regulations of the Society to be 
developed by the test of time. But he had a clear con- 
ception of what he meant to accomplish. He meant to 
train up clergymen thoroughly fitted to fulfil the essen- 
tial duty of the priest of Christ, that is to say, to sanctify 
and make like unto Christ the faithful committed to his 
charge. His experience as a missionary had proved that 
this meant the instruction of the faithful in their duties 
in the law of God, but it meant also the training of their 
wills to carry out Christ's precepts. 

This training of the will, he was convinced, could best 
be done by means of example, and therefore the young 
levites entrusted to his care must first of all sanctify them- 



30 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

selves, and in order that their teachers might aid them to 
achieve this, they, too, must be an example to their pupils. 
Consequently, the seminary priests must share the lives 
of their pupils, pray with them, eat with them, study with 
them, in short, live with them. They were to be, as it 
were, the elder brothers of the students, sharing their toils, 
partaking of their joys, and obedient to the same rules. 
In all but the purely intellectual domain they were to 
teach by example more than by word of mouth. They 
were to be the friends and brothers rather than the su- 
perintendents and watchmen of the young levites en- 
trusted to their care, for their own idealistic training 
and their characters as gentlemen made them unfit to act 
any other part. Hence their dealings with their pro- 
teges were at all times open and A'ank. They studied 
the characters of their students for the purpose of better 
fitting them for the deeply responsible work of guiding 
their future flocks, advising them and pointing out short- 
comings, nor did they shrink from suggesting withdrawal 
from the seminary if they saw that the candidate for the 
priesthood was deficient in earnestness, talent, or virtue. 
Their recommendation of a student to the bishop for or- 
dination was not a mere act of routine, being always the 
result of careful personal observation and charitable con- 
sideration, the charity extending not only to the candidate, 
but also to the congregations destined in the course of 
time to be entrusted to his government and guidance. It 
follows from this that the true Sulpician must spend all 
his time with or for his pupils, that he must cut himself 
off from the world, that he must daily strive to fit him- 
self better for the lofty task assigned to him by God, that 
he must have no ambition except to develop his young 
charges into true and loyal servants of God's people. 
Hence, except in very unusual circumstances, a Sulpician 



BEGINNI»"GS OF ST. SULPICE IN" THE "DTSriTED STATES 31 

once is a Sulpician for life, and neither mitres nor ben- 
efices have any attraction for him. 

Holding that the spiritual growth of the young clerics 
should be the main and only end of the Sulpician teacher, 
M. Olier felt satisfied that when a Sulpician begins to 
doubt his vocation his usefulness as a trainer of priests 
is at an end. He made it a rule, therefore, that any gen- 
tleman of St. Sulpice might withdraw according to the 
dictates of his own conscience, and that, therefore, the 
members of the Society should make no vows. He felt 
convinced that men imbued with the spirit of these rules 
and guiding their lives by them would find little use for 
money or property, except for benevolent purposes. 
Therefore, he did not require his brethren to take the vow 
of poverty. In short, they were secular priests like other 
secular priests, except that Sulpicians, while they re- 
mained Sulpicians, lived in community and bound them- 
selves to obey their superiors. At the same time, the 
Sulpician superior regularly couched his orders in the 
form of requests, and we have the word of the historians 
of St. Sulpice that these requests were complied with as 
if they were sacred commands. In fact, notwithstanding 
the freedom allowed to the Sulpician to withdraw when 
he pleases, he rarely makes use of this right. Even dur- 
ing the terrors of the French Eevolution, when out of 
some one hundred and twenty Sulpicians eighteen fell 
victims to the gaUows or the guillotine, and many more 
sturdily showed their loyalty before the revolutionary 
tribunal, no Sulpicians took the constitutional oath of the 
clergy, nor did any of them give up their sacred duties to 
become men of the world. After the restoration, the scat- 
tered members of the Society, with almost no exceptions, 
resumed their old work in the seminaries. 

Another cardinal principle laid down by Olier and rig- 
idly adhered to by his successors was that the gentlemen 



32 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

of St. Sulpice must have one and only one aim as a so- 
ciety. St. Sulpice was founded to train priests, and for 
no other purpose. If a gentleman who had joined the So- 
ciety was found to he possessed of unusual oratorical gifts, 
so that he might render more efficient service to God and 
the Church as an orator than as a seminary professor, he 
was entirely free to withdraw, and in some cases he was 
actually advised to do so. Bishop Foumier of Mont- 
pellier, in whose arms M. Emery died, was advised by 
the latter to become a secular priest because of his great 
eloquence. But the Fathers of St. Sulpice were almost 
universally convinced that as seminary professors, as 
trainers of the men destined to be the shepherds of God's 
flock, they were able to do more and greater and more 
far-reaching good than they could do as bishops and prel- 
ates, though they revered the episcopate as the perfection 
of the priesthood. 

Of course, a body of men exclusively devoted to one 
purpose, the training of the clergy, could not be a numer- 
ous body, especially as M. Olier had no intention to send 
his brethren outside of France and its colonies. Indeed, 
the United States, with the exception of Canada, is the 
only country outside of France where the Society of St. 
Sulpice has taken charge of seminaries. Moreover, the 
Council of Trent placed the organization and control of 
clerical seminaries entirely in the hands of the bishops. 
If, therefore, the gentlemen of St. Sulpice had charge of 
a diocesan seminary, it was in accordance with a contract 
or agreement made with the bishop, and such an agree- 
ment, of course, was not necessarily perpetual. The nat- 
ural result was that the Sulpiciaos at no time since their 
foundation have controlled all or even the majority of the 
French seminaries. In 1791, when the Society was dis- 
persed by the French Revolution, it numbered sixteen the- 
ological seminaries and ten other houses for clerical edu- 



BEGINNINGS OF ST. STJXPICE IN THE UNITED STATES 33 

cation in France.^ In 1904, when the third French Ke- 
public dissolved the Sulpician seminaries, thej numbered 
about thirty. It may not be possible to gather absolutely 
accurate statistics on this point, but it is safe to assume 
that the Society never counted more than 430 members. 
Indeed, the earlier superiors-general seem to have limited 
the membership to seventy-two, to which must be added 
the superior and his twelve assistants. 

We must draw attention to another point. The life of 
a Sulpician was designedly a quiet, retired life, without 
worldly interests, craving for no wealth or worldly for- 
tune, not aiming at fame or eclat; it did not encourage 
the publication of theological or other literary works by 
its professors. Indeed, many manuscripts, containing val- 
uable treatises on the various provinces of theology, writ- 
ten by men respected as eminent scholars and teachers in 
their day, are still preserved in the archives of St. Sul- 
pice. It may be correctly stated that the publications of 
the Sulpicians are not a fair standard of their learning 
and that this is due to the love of retirement which is 
the characteristic of the Society. 

Another peculiarity of the Society is its disinterested- 
ness. The houses of the Sulpicians are often theirs only 
in virtue of their agreement with the diocesan bishops. 
They are, therefore, partly under episcopal control. Their 
property as a corporation is owned by them less abso- 
lutely. Their restriction to one purpose is a limit to their 
extension and to acquisition of property. While the in- 
dividual Sulpician may own property and sometimes when 
dying devises it to his Society, the order, as a whole, 
has never become wealthy. It has been a principle with 
the Sulpicians, in the case of bequests, never to enforce 
these bequests by law-suits, even if the testator was a 
member of the order. The Sulpicians have readily sur- 

» Gosselin, op. cit., vol. i, p. 451. 



34 THE SULPICIANS I]Sr THE UNITED STATES 

rendered tlie direction of congregations founded by them, 
such as that of the Colored Oblate Sisters of Providence 
and the Seton Sisters of Charity, and have given up 
colleges, like Mt. St. Mary's College and St. Mary's Col- 
lege, Baltimore, because to maintain them was some- 
what out of harmony with their principles. 

Readers of Sulpician history must be struck by the cir- 
cumstance that these gentlemen in their histories and bi- 
ographies of the Society are usually called directors, not 
professors. Still, we should not be surprised thereat. 
The professor suggests the man of learning, the director 
the guide. "Now, highly as M. Olier and his successors 
valued learning, they did not speak of teaching the young 
clerics, but of forming them, i.e., of moulding their char- 
acter, of making them good, holy, wise men, capable of 
spreading holiness and justice in the world which was to 
be the scene of their labors. The word "director," there- 
fore, was eminently suitable for the men that formed the 
Society of St. Sulpice, because it emphasized the side of 
their work on which they laid the greatest stress. 

We have endeavored in this brief sketch to brin^ out 
the most salient features in the spirit and the life of the 
Society which was destined, under the direction of Bishop 
Carroll and the Abbe Emery, to play such an important 
role in laying the foundations of Catholicism in the 
United States. The principles and rules which we have 
set forth above as the guiding ideas of M. Olier' s Society 
did not, as Minerva leaped full-armed from Jupiter's 
head, come as a complete and ripe system from his pen. 
They were rather the accumulation of wisdom on the 
basis of experience. Olier became pastor of St. Sulpice 
in 1642 ; ill health forced him to leave his dearly beloved 
seminary and church in 1647, only ^tb years after he 
began to realize the project of his Society and ten years 
before his death. He never drafted a constitution or by- 



BEGINNIIirGS OF ST. SULPICE IN THE UNITED STATES 35 

laws for tlie organization that he was creating. He him- 
self was the living constitution and the living rule of the 
Society. His friends, de Bretonvilliers and Tronson, 
were the depositaries of his thoughts, the confidants of 
his views, and the witnesses of his practice. 

When, therefore, Rome, through Cardinal Chigi, its 
nuncio in France, approved the Society of St. Sulpice on 
August 3, 1664, and when the Parliament of Paris gave 
them its sanction in 1708, and a constitution and rules 
had to be submitted to these authorities, it was M. de 
Bretonvilliers, the first, and M. Lechassier, the third 
successor of M. Olier, who drew up the required docu- 
ments. It is touching to read in the records of MM. de 
Bretonvilliers and Tronson, his successor, the evidence of 
the veneration and the faith they had in their beloved 
master and friend. Olier's practices became rules and 
Olier's suggestions, principles, and all this without an;y 
superstition, for Olier was indeed a wonderful fountain 
of sanctity and wisdom, which he distilled into his friends 
and associates, and they into their successors. 

We can now picture their disciples before our mind's 
eye, men devoted to Christ's cause and that of His Church, 
pious and devout, with a special devotion to the Mother 
of God, modest, disinterested, retiring, straightforward, 
and simple, without ambition and without guile; men of 
learning, too, life-long students, working not for reputa- 
tion, not for vanity, not for wealth, but for the Kingdom 
of God. 

When we come to the further history of the Society of 
St. Sulpice, it will not long detain us. In the epigram- 
matic sense of the current phrase, we may say that it has 
no past. 'No scandals, nay, not even accusations, mar the 
simplicity and purity of its records. Its soul was charity 
and its works were free from bitterness. Love of God 
and His truth were their animating principle and the 



36 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

spirit of God, which sheds the sunlight and pours out the 
fertilizing rain even on his erring children, filled the 
hearts of its sons. Thej were true and devoted sons of 
St. Peter and his successors, and defended the rights and 
authority of the Eoman See. But, like Pius X, they 
trusted rather to the all-prevailing power of truth and 
gentleness than to the efficiency of the slashing, contro- 
versial pen. In the Jansenist controversy their position 
was never doubtful, but they were proclaimers of the 
truth, rather than assailants of the champions of error. 
They sought to put down heresy, rather than the heretic. 
They were Galileans, like the vast majority of the French 
bishops and clergy, like Bossuet and Penelon, but much 
more moderate and much less inclined to be the tools of 
kings and parliaments. 

They were retiring, studious, and conscientious schol- 
ars, filling the hearts and the minds of the young levites 
entrusted to them with their own spirit, with their mod- 
esty, their simplicity, their unworldliness, their love of 
truth, and their love of the Church. The quality of their 
work begot the admiration of the wisest and the best of 
the French bishops, who had entrusted fully sixteen semi- 
naries to them before the wild orgies of the Revolution 
played havoc with all that was lofty and holy. Until the 
rise of the Terror, they had worked for the cause of the 
Church, steadily but peacefully. But when the day of 
death and danger came, when the most pacific of men 
could no longer profess and practice the religion of the 
Prince of Peace without exposing themselves to denunci- 
ation and death, then perhaps the boldest champion who 
stood for right and for truth was the diminutive superior- 
general of the Sulpicians, the Abbe Emery, who quailed 
neither before Robespierre nor before !N^apoleon Bona- 
parte. 

The greatness of St. Sulpice shone forth most brightly 



^.'' 



#1 I 



-.'■'" '-i- 






^ ^ »> V J 



*' \ 



■•^.. •i.yl, / 



BEGINN'INGS OF ST. SULPICE IX THE UNITED STATES 37 

in the days of adversity and trial. The story of St. Sul- 
pice is essentially a story of peace and loyal work; and, 
therefore, as the world's history is the story of war and 
bloodshed and strife, rather than of tranquillity, union, and 
harmony, as its heroes are the wielders of the sword and 
the destroyers of mankind, rather than the promoters of 
charity and good-will, so history has not found in the Sul- 
picians a profitable and attractive theme. But this will 
not prevent the thinking man who can delve beneath the 
surface from recognizing their merits and from conclud- 
ing that the Society, which for 150 years trained the best 
and most virtuous elements of the French clergy, which 
had given to France a succession of holy and zealous bish- 
ops, fifty-nine of whom suffered exile in the day of trial, 
was indeed a living source of countless blessings to the 
Church of France. They sought not the glare of public- 
ity, but their modest, humble, persistent works were reg- 
istered in the hearts of their pupils and in the pages of 
the Book of Life. 

Before we take up again the story of the Baltimore Sul- 
picians, we must not fail to remark that almost from its 
foundation the Society was destined to extend its activity 
to the new world, and even to the territory which subse- 
quently became the United States. As early as 1636, six 
years before taking up his residence at St. Sulpice, M. 
Olier had become interested with de la Dauversiere in 
the project of establishing on the island of Montreal a 
city to be called Ville-Marie. This town was to be the 
focus of missionary activity, embracing in its purview 
all the Indian tribes within reach of Montreal, for the 
island of Montreal had for many years served as a tryst- 
ing-place for the Indian and French traders. After vari- 
ous delays and negotiations, in 1641 the new enterprise 
was launched, under the direction of the knightly and 
pious de Maisonneuve and the devoted Mile. Mance, the 



38 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

Jesuit Father Vimont celebrating the first Mass in the 
new colony. In 1657, until which time the settlement re- 
mained in the charge of the Jesuits, the managers offered 
the spiritual direction of the island to the Sulpicians. 
The first superior was M. de Queylus de Montmorency. 
He and his companions, of course, at first acted as mis- 
sionaries, and in 1661 two of them were massacred by the 
Iroquois. These missions before long brought them to dis- 
tricts bordering on what is now the United States, or with- 
in that territory. As early as 1668, M. de Queylus sent two 
of his priests, MM. Trouve and de Salignac-Fenelon, to 
found a mission at Kent Bay on Lake Ontario. M. de 
Salignac-Fenelon, by the way, was a younger brother of 
the great Archbishop of Cambrai, who had himself been 
a pupil of the Sulpicians. M. de Salignac-Fenelon and 
his confrere extended their missionary labors as far as 
iNiagara Falls, and were thus probably the first Sulpicians 
who set foot on the territory of the great American Re- 
public. It is interesting to learn that even now one of 
the feeders of Lake Ontario bears the name of Fenelon, 
after this enterprising missionary. Among the settle- 
ments shortly afterwards founded by the Sulpicians, we 
must not forget that which has since become the city of 
Ogdensburg and which is certainly within the limits of 
the American Union. About the same time, the Sulpician 
Fathers gathered about them in settlements reserved for 
them great numbers of Redskins, coming from what is 
now United States territory. We readily recognize among 
them tribes like the Hurons, Iroquois, Algonquins, I^ipis- 
sings, Sioux, Miamis, and Flatheads, whose hunting 
grounds certainly extended into our territory. 

We cannot, of course, give an account of all the Sul- 
pician missions in eastern Canada which did not come 
in contact with the country that now belongs to the United 
States. We must not, however, fail to draw attention to 



BEGINNII^GS OF ST. SULPICE IN THE UNITED STATES 39 

the Sulpician missionaries wlio brought the Gospel to the 
Micmacs and other Indian tribes in the north of Maine. 
They and their Jesuit confreres so strongly imbued these 
kindly Redskins with Christian love and faith that many 
years after the missions were given up and the neophytes 
left to themselves they implored Bishop Carroll to send 
them again their beloved Black Kobes. 

In the west, we must draw attention to the part which 
Sulpicians and their scholars took in the exploration of 
the Mississippi valley. The name of Rene-Robert Cave- 
lier, Sieur de La Salle, is a household word in American 
history as that of the man who first descended the Mis- 
sissippi to its delta. Subsequently, he undertook to ex- 
plore the river, starting from the south, and on this occa- 
sion M. Tronson, the third superior-general of St. Sul- 
pice, detailed to accompany him de La Salle's brother, 
the Abbe Jean Cavelier de La Salle, and his two nephews, 
one a Sulpician belonging to the Montreal seminary, the 
other an inmate of the seminary of St. Sulpice, Paris. 
M. Tronson had intended to found a mission in Louisiana, 
but the murder of de La Salle in 1687 forced him to give 
up the project. 

It appears, therefore, that the Society of St. Sulpice 
had not been strangers to the soil of the United States 
when in 1791 they settled in Baltimore. When, on Oc- 
tober 3d of that year, the regular academic exercises were 
opened, the seminary had a full staff of professors, but 
only the students that they had brought with them from 
France. Father E'agot and his colleagues, strictly follow- 
ing the instructions of M. Emery, carried out the rules, 
the religious exercises, and the course of studies so fa- 
miliar to them in the seminary of St. Sulpice at Paris. 
They rose and retired at the same hours, they took their 
meals with the students at the same hours, they practiced 
the same ascetic virtues and were animated by the same 



40 THE SULPICIAIS^S IN THE UNITED STATES 

spirit of piety and devotion. So far as the spirit, man- 
agement, and direction of the seminary were concerned, 
everything went without flaw and promised the best re- 
sult for the future. What Bishop Carroll thought of the 
conduct of his seminary, which he so justly considered 
to be one of the foundation stones of the Church in the 
United States, is clearly and strongly expressed in the let- 
ter quoted at the end of our first chapter. And yet it 
soon became evident that sore days of trial awaited the 
new institution. A seminary is made up not only of 
professors, but also of students, and the students are just 
as necessary for its success as the faculty. In the stu- 
dents, or rather in the absence of students, lay the dan- 
ger threatening the seminary of Baltimore. Father 
Nagot began the spiritual retreat for the seminarians on 
December 10, 1791, and on December 15 he dedicated 
the chapel. But the retreat was followed only by the 
students brought by him from France, and perhaps by 
only a part of them, for the name of neither Mr. Cald- 
well nor of Mr. TuUoh, who accompanied the Sulpicians 
from St. Male, is found in the list of priests ordained at 
St. Mary's Seminary. From other sources no students 
were added to this diminutive roll. When in the follow- 
ing year three new seminarians appear, we still find no 
American; two were Frenchmen, M. Barret and M. Ste- 
phen Badin, ordained in 1793 as the first American priest. 
The third was the celebrated Prince Demetrius Gallitzin, 
whose father was the Russian ambassador at The Hague 
and whose mother was the Princess Gallitzin, one of the 
foremost members of the Catholic literary circle at Miin- 
ster in Westphalia, and the friend of Goethe and the Schle- 
gels. He came to the United States under the name of 
Smith, for the purpose of studying the conditions in the 
new republic. In the course of his travels he felt a call 
to the priesthood, was received into the Baltimore semi- 



BEGINNINGS OF ST. SULPICE IN THE UNITED STATES 41 

nary, and ordained in 1795. He even joined the Society 
of St. Sulpice, but Bishop Carroll made him promise 
to devote himself to missionary labor. From 1795 to the 
summer of 1797 the seminary was without students. In 
1797 M. Montdesir returned from Georgetown College to 
resume his theological studies, and was raised to the priest- 
hood in 1798. Mr. Matthews entered the seminary in 1797, 
and was the first American-bom student raised to the 
priesthood (1800) from St. Mary's. 

If it be asked why candidates for the priesthood were 
not forthcoming at Baltimore during the last years of 
the eighteenth century, it is not difficult to find an answer. 
Owing to the revolutionary troubles in Europe, young 
American Catholics could not pursue their preliminary 
studies in the old haunts of American students on the con- 
tinent of Europe. In the United States, it is true. Bishop 
Carroll had founded Georgetown College in 1789. But 
the short time which had elapsed since then was insuffi- 
cient to provide an adequate number of graduates to sup- 
ply the needed recruits for the seminary. In fact, when 
Georgetown began to send forth graduates, the instruc- 
tors needed for the college itseK were to be found only in 
the ranks of its alumni, and if they meant to study the- 
ology they did this at the college itself, at the same time 
teaching the younger students. Of course, this might 
have been foreseen. But the zeal and enthusiasm of 
Bishop Carroll, as well as of M. Emery, probably led them 
to entertain the hope that students would appear from 
other sources. 

Meantime M. Emery sent new supplies of professors 
to Baltimore. Thus on March 29, 1792, in company 
with MM. Badin and Barret, came Fathers Chicoisneau, 
David, and Flaget, and on the 24th of June of the same 
year arrived Fathers Marechal, Eichard, and Ciquard, 
while Father Dubourg, afterward bishop of 'New Orleans, 



4:55 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

arrived in December, 1794, and joined the Society of St. 
Sulpice in 1795. Of course, M. Emery knew full well 
that all these gentlemen could not find work as professors 
in St. Mary's Seminary. Indeed, notwithstanding his 
vigorous insistence that the training of theological stu- 
dents was the sole aim of his Society, he had assented to 
the plan of sending Levadoux, Eichard, and Chicoisneau 
as missionaries to the west in the Mississippi Valley. 
Here there were many French and French-Canadian set- 
tlers who were sadly in want of pastoral care and many 
Indians who had been converted to Christianity by the 
old French missionaries. To bring them the needed spir- 
itual aid, he thought, would be continuing the old Sulpi- 
cian missions of Canada, and therefore the work of M. 
Olier. To Bishop Carroll this work was most welcome, 
for hitherto he had been unable to do much for the evan- 
gelization of these western districts. Accordingly, Fa- 
thers Levadoux and Flaget set out without delay for 
their new sphere of action, where we shall leave them for 
the present. 

But the other Sulpicians, even the original companions 
of Father E'agot, sought for work outside of the seminary 
also. Father David took charge of three missions, resid- 
ing at Sakia in lower Maryland, and developed a wonder- 
ful activity, giving four retreats a year to his parishioners. 
Father Gamier, one of the seminary professors, founded 
the parish of St. Patrick in the lower part of Baltimore 
called FelFs Point, and built a church for the faithful. 
At intervals, in conformity with Bishop Carroll's desires, 
he turned his steps to districts lying farther away from 
Baltimore, where he attended to the spiritual wants of the 
people. E'either fatigue nor the terrors of the yellow 
fever hindered him in the performance of these duties. 
Father Tessier, another member of St. Mary's faculty, 
in company with M. Chicoisneau, organized a little par- 



BEGIN^NINGS OF ST. SULPICE IN THE UNITED STATES 43 

ish within the seminary itself, where they busied them- 
selves especially with instructing the faithful. Later he 
became interested in the negroes, and together with Father 
Dubourg established a small negro parish. For thirty-one 
years he taught catechism to the colored children of the 
neighborhood, also devoting much time to the promotion 
of the spiritual interests of their parents. 

Father Ciquard was sent by Bishop Carroll to the 
northeast extremity of his all-embracing diocese, to the 
forests of Maine. Here the remnants of the Micmacs, 
who had received the Christian faith, in part at least, 
from Sulpician missionaries, and had preserved it for 
many years after the English drove out the French, had 
sent envoys to beg Bishop Carroll to send them some Black 
Eobes. The bishop sent M. Ciquard, who remained with 
them until he joined his brethren at Montreal. 

One of the later Sulpician arrivals, Father Marechal, 
destined to be the second successor of Bishop Carroll, spent 
some time among the old Maryland Catholics of St. 
Mary's County. In 1793 he was sent to Bohemia Manor, 
Maryland. He served this mission up to 1799, giving, 
moreover, much attention to the temporal administration 
of the Manor. In 1802 he was sent to Georgetown College, 
where he taught philosophy. 

Father Flaget was destined by M. Emery for the western 
missions in the Illinois country, and thither he went shortly 
after his arrival. Only two years later, however, he was re- 
called from the west by Bishop Carroll and named vice- 
president of Georgetown College, where he worked for 
two years. In 1799 we find him at St. Mary's Seminary 
and in 1802-1808 his name appears as one of the pro- 
fessors of St. Mary's College. 

In 1795 Father !N'agot, the American superior, with 
the consent of the superior-general, Father Emery, re- 
ceived into the Society of St. Sulpice Fr. Dubourg, who 



M THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

later on became bishop of ITew Orleans. This energetic 
and eloquent clergyman had for several years been presi- 
dent of a boys' seminary at Issy, having been appointed 
to the position by M. !N'agot, though he was not yet a 
Sulpician. In 1792, when so many of the Sulpicians were 
imprisoned and slain in Paris, M. Dubourg only escaped 
disguised as a fiddler; in 1794 he reached America; in 
1795, being a man of great executive capacity and of a 
very attractive manner, he was placed at the head of 
Georgetown College by Bishop Carroll, who had great con- 
fidence in him. He resigned this position in January, 
1799, to return to the seminary. However, both of these 
gentlemen about this time went to Cuba to assist another 
Sulpician exile, M. Babad, to found a college at Havana. 
The enterprise proved a failure, for the Spanish Govern- 
ment, suspecting the three Sulpicians because they were 
Frenchmen, forbade them to carry on their educational 
work, and MM. Dubourg and Babad returned to Balti- 
more. M. Flaget fell ill and returned in July, 1801. 
They had made a very favorable impression on the inhabi- 
tants of Havana, however, and brought with them a dozen 
Cuban boys, with whom M. Dubourg attempted to open an 
academy. Bishop Carroll looked with disfavor on this 
project, as it appeared to him likely to enter into competi- 
tion with Georgetown College. But to enable the Sulpi- 
cians to recover their outlay on the new institution, he per- 
mitted them to carry on the scheme for two years. 

Fathers Levadoux and Richard, the latter of whom 
arrived in the United States on June 24, 1792, shortly 
afterward turned their way westward, where we find them 
first at Louisville and later at Yincennes, Detroit, Sault 
Ste. Marie, and other places, busily engaged in the French 
and Indian missions. 

Another Sulpician, M. Dilhet, was also sent to the west, 
where he worked in conjunction with MM. Levadoux and 




Rev. Demetrius A. Gallitzin. 



BEGINHTNGS OF ST. SULPICE IN THE UNITED STATES 45 

Eichard. After his ordination in 1795, Prince Gallitzin, 
who had become a member of the Society of St. Sulpice, 
immediately began his activity as missionary in Maryland, 
Pennsylvania and Virginia. His ability and zeal were a 
guarantee of his success, and his name has become a house- 
hold word in Pennsylvania because of his successful estab- 
lishment of the colony of Loretto. 

Eleven of the twelve Sulpicians who during the last 
decade of the eighteenth century had sought our shores 
were thus either wholly or partly engaged in ministering 
to the wants of the faithful in the vastly extended new 
republic. They worked as missionaries in far eastern 
Maine, on the Great Lakes, in the valley of the Missis- 
sippi, in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia; they 
worked as missionaries among the whites, the blacks, and 
the redskins, as evangelizers among Catholics and Prot- 
estants; they became the masters of the American youth 
in Bishop Carroll's deeply cherished College of George- 
town. Even the venerable superior. Father ISTagot, be- 
sides the care of his Society and his seminary at Balti- 
more, assisted the American bishop in the work of the 
cathedral and took part in the earliest synods gathered by 
him in the capitol of the American Church. But Father 
iNTagot, and still more the head of the Society, M. Emery, 
felt that they were drifting away from the primary and 
chief object of the Sulpician Society. The one had come 
to the new world and the other sent thither his brethren 
to be the pioneers in the work of the clerical education 
of the new Church. They did not spare effort, or money, 
or prayers to found St. Mary's Ecclesiastical Seminary; 
they had dreamed of providing the Church of the new 
republic with a learned and zealous national clergy, and 
now the halls of St. Mary's were practically vacant ; and 
the day when these lifelong trainers and teachers of wor- 
thy ecclesiastics might expect eflSciently to fulfil their 



46 THE SULPICIANS IN" THE UNITED STATES 

chosen vocation seeming more and more to recede, nat- 
urally filled them with sad misgivings and forebodings. 

As the years advanced, affairs mended in France. The 
advent of ^Napoleon and the conclusion of the Concordat 
again opened the French seminaries. After the blood- 
shed and desolation of the Kevolution, the want of an 
active, youthful and expanding French clergy cried aloud 
for the reopening and creation of seminaries. M. Emery 
was appealed to from many quarters to furnish his well- 
tried and experienced ecclesiastical educators to revive 
clerical activities in his native country. But his Society 
had been paralyzed for a dozen years, and few recruits 
had come to devote themselves to the absolutely necessary 
seminary work. I^aturally, his eyes wandered across the 
great western main, where so many of his brethren conse- 
crated to clerical education were working hard, but work- 
ing for ends which, however laudable, were foreign to the 
primary aims of the Society. All these considerations 
naturally tended to make him feel that he and his breth- 
ren were practically faithless to the very purpose of the 
Society and that the American St. Sulpice was betraying 
the cause of ecclesiastical education. He exchanged views 
with his dear old lieutenant, Fr. IN'agot, and that gentle 
soul, who up to the age of sixty had devoted his time and 
his entire self to the work of the Sulpician seminary, 
could not conceal from himself that the American Sulpi- 
cians, whilst strenuous workers in the vineyard of the 
Lord, were not faithful disciples of the Keverend M. Olier. 

What was to be done ? M. Emery had long ago become 
convinced that it was impossible to make bricks without 
straw; in other words, that the upper seminary presup- 
posed the lower seminary or its equivalent. He had, 
therefore, impressed upon the Sulpicians who went west- 
ward the necessity of starting ecclesiastical academies for 
boys who showed signs of a priestly vocation. There are 



BEGINNINGS OF ST. SULPICE IN THE UNITED STATES 47 

letters extant impressing this necessity upon Bishop 
Flaget and others. The old superior-general, notwith- 
standing his occasional disgust and horror at the Eevolu- 
tionary excesses in France, always remained a loyal 
Frenchman, and this made him feel that, though the east- 
em United States might prove but barren soil for priestly 
vocations, the settlements of the French-Canadians in the 
west would turn out to be all the more productive. But 
the facts did not answer his expectations, and the story 
of 'New Orleans and the experiences of Father Gibault 
demonstrate that there was no violent devotion to the 
Church to be looked for in the valley of the Mississippi. 
The failure of the Sulpician disciples to build up boys' 
seminaries in the west was very discouraging to M. Emery 
and M. I^agot. Not was JBishop Carroll's check to M. 
Dubourg's attempt to create an academy at Baltimore by 
any means likely to ease the old superior's mind. George- 
town furnished no students to St. Mary's Seminary; the 
west furnished no students, and now the Baltimore Sul- 
picians were not permitted to help themselves. Was it 
not evident that at this rate the St. Sulpice of America 
could no longer be the St. Sulpice of M. Olier, that the 
men who had devoted themselves to the education of the 
priesthood must inevitably become missionaries and par- 
ish priests ? And while every new message from America 
impressed this sad picture of failure and faithlessness 
more deeply on his mind, the bishops of France from day 
to day cried more loudly for the fulfilment of M. Oiler's 
schemes for the creation of new seminaries whither his 
brethren might be summoned to do the work for which 
they had become Sulpicians. 

Of course, these views and feelings found their expres- 
sion in M. Emery's correspondence with Bishop Carroll 
and with Father E'agot. By vocation and lifelong prac- 
tice, M. N"agot was a Sulpician and sympathized with 



48 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

the feelings and schemes of his superior. On the other 
hand, was Bishop Carroll wanting in sympathy with M. 
Emery's views? He had been too good a Jesuit not to 
appreciate loyalty to one's order. But what impressed 
the American prelate more than the necessities of the 
Society of St. Sulpice were the necessities of his diocese, 
the necessity of his flock spread over a large part of the 
continent. What was he to do? All in all, he had but 
a few priests. What could he do if at one fell swoop 
twelve of them were taken away from him, twelve of the 
most efficient helps in his apostolic work? There have 
come down to us four letters, two from the Bishop of 
Baltimore to M. Emery, and two from the Sulpician su- 
perior to Bishop Carroll, which are in a way the pathetic 
expression of the mental struggle that went on at this 
time in these equally well intentioned and zealous men. 
We cannot do better than to present them to our readers 
now. 



M. Emery to Bishop Caeroll, August 9, 1800 

"I had advised our gentlemen to bring up in their house 
young men showing a disposition to become priests accord- 
ing to the wish of the Council of Trent: but M. Nagot 
has informed me that you declined to authorize this policy 
because you feared in this way to injure the interest of 
Georgetown College. I respect your intentions, Mon- 
seigneur; I respect your wisdom, and at this distance 
from Baltimore it does not become me to judge of the 
reasons which led you to object to our plan; but it seems 
to me that what outweighs every other consideration is 
the creation of an American clergy ; for what is a diocesa 
whose priests are all strangers, many of them unknown, 
and who are brought there by circumstances of a pass- 
ing nature? 



BEGINNINGS OF ST. SULPICE IN THE UNITED STATES 49 

"M. N"agot tells me that it was believed possible to es- 
cape this difficulty by educating a certain number of young 
men without reference to the priestly vocation, because 
it is hoped to pay for the expenses of seminary students 
from the profit thus mada But I noticed from his let- 
ters that all this was not done without some dissatisfaction 
on your part. In regard to this I have the honor to assure 
you, Monseigneur, I shall never approve any undertak- 
ing of our gentlemen which meets with your sincere and 
constant opposition. Such approval on my side would 
be entirely opposed to the spirit of our Society, which 
can do nothing except in harmony with the bishops. I 
have, therefore, not approved the establishment of the 
academy because it lacked your approval." ^ 

Bishop Cakkoll to M. Emery, January, 1801 

"I am not astonished that you have been pained because 
the seminary founded at the cost of so many sacrifices on 
your part and such promising hopes has been without 
students for so long a time. Like yourself, I am thor- 
oughly persuaded of the little reliance to be placed on the 
recruits which come from Europe, so to say, by accident, 
and of the great advantages to be derived from the priests 
brought up in the spirit and under the discipline of the 
seminary. I declare to you, as I have always said every- 
where, that I have never seen or known anywhere men 
better able by their character, their talents, and their 
virtues to train ecclesiastics, such as religion requires at 
present, than the gentlemen of your Society. Therefore, 
I believe that it would be one of the greatest misfortunes 
that could happen to this diocese if it were to lose them. 
I have these feelings so strongly impressed on my mind 
that I was frightened when I heard that for a short 

* Gosselin, op. dt., voL ii, p. 102 sqq. 



50 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

time you had intended to recall them. I earnestly heg 
of you to give up this thought and to feel sure that in 
the end they will fulfil the purpose of your Society and 
the views you had when you sent them here." ^ 

Bishop Caeeoll to M. Emery, September, 1801 

"... I conjure you by the bowels of Our Lord not to 
take all of them away from us, and if it is necessary for 
me to undergo the trial of losing the greater number, I 
beg of you to leave us at least a seed, which may yield 
fruit in the season decreed by the Lord. . . ." ^ 

In a later letter, when M. Emery continued to insist 
on the return of the American Sulpicians, the bishop takes 
a sharper tone and complains of the entire suppression 
of an institution, on the lasting character of which he had 
always counted, and declares that if the Sulpicians go 
back to Europe the only monument they will leave behind 
them will be a college. In reply M. Emery, to justify 
his action, wrote the following letter: 

M. Emery to Bishop Carroll, February 2, 1803 

"... I come to the root of the matter; surely in the 
entire course of the French Revolution nothing was done 
similar to what we did for you and your diocese. A 
small Society like ours, in fact, the smallest Society of 
all, offers to establish a seminary in your diocese; it 
sends you quite a large number of members; it even 
sends you seminarians to enable you to start the seminary 
work at once ; the Society sends them at its own expense ; 
it undertakes to support these members, and, in fact, has 
ever since then supported them ; it sacrifices to this insti- 
tution the greater part of its savings and gives nearly 

iGosselin, op. cit., vol. ii, p. 103 flf. 
2Gosselin, op. oit., vol. ii, p. 104 sqq. 



BEGINNINGS OF ST. SULPICE IN THE UNITED STATES 51 

100,000 francs. What is tlie result of all this ? At the 
end of ten years things stand as they did on the first day. 
At present there is no question of giving up the Baltimore 
Seminary, because that seminary, in truth, has never 
existed; there is question only of giving up the project 
of the seminary. From time to time promises were made 
that students should be sent there; we were made to 
regard this as a grace and favor ; but the students did not 
come, and difficulties arose where we should have least 
expected them. You tell me, Monseigneur, that the 
Society will leave behind it no monument except a college. 
I hope that you will bear in mind to some degree all the 
services which its members have rendered you during ten 
years. If there is question of complaining, it seems to 
me that I have a right to complain, since at the end of 
a ten years' stay, and after many promises, we have done 
nothing and been able to do nothing of all that we meant 
to do when entering your diocese. However, I am very 
far from finding fault with you ; we know that you have 
not been able to do what you wished, and we are always 
grateful to you for all the kindness you have shown us." ^ 
It is clear from this correspondence that black clouds 
had arisen, threatening the very existence of St. Mary's 
Seminary, and disaster seemed to be in the air. What 
power could disperse the clouds and restore serene skies 
to the troubled atmosphere ? The Father of Christendom, 
Pope Pius VII, proved to be the savior. In 1804 the 
much-tried pontiff came to Paris to assist at !N'apoleon's 
coronation. M. Emery, like a true and loyal son, took 
the first opportunity to call upon him, and he discussed 
with him the interests of the Church in France and 
America. He placed before him his scheme of infusing 
new life into the French seminaries by recalling the 
Sulpicians he had sent to America and giving up St. 

iGosselin, "Vie de M. Emery," vol. ii, p. 104 ff. 



63 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

Mary's Seminary. "My son," said the venerable pontiff, 
"let it stand — ^yes, let that seminary stand; for it will 
bear fruit in its own time. To recall its directors in 
order to employ them here in other seminaries would be 
to rob Peter to pay Paul." To M. Emery, the Pope's 
words were a command from heaven. St. Mary's Sem- 
inary stood and brought forth fruit a hundred-fold. 



Chaptee III 
St. Maey's Seminaey, 1791-1810 

administeation of m. feancis chaeles nagot 

The essential purpose of the Society of St. Sulpice, as 
conceived by M. Olier, which was the education of the 
secular clergy, and the management of clerical seminaries, 
had been constantly kept in view during the seventeenth 
and eighteenth centuries, and this was the chief end, as 
M. Emery often emphasized in his letters, for which he 
sent his Sulpician colony to the United States. We have 
seen how this scheme originated, how it was favored, 
nay, almost dictated, by a variety of circumstances in 
France and in the United States. We have accompanied 
the Sulpicians on their voyage to Baltimore, seen them 
land, and with prompt action establish themselves on the 
very spot which has been the scene of their devoted labors 
to this day. We have seen M. Emery's original colony 
increased in numbers by new arrivals, we have seen most 
of these accessions scattered northward and westward to 
work as missionaries in the Lord's vineyard. But though 
necessity knows no law, and though M. Emery, as a 
practical man, was ready to give way to necessity, still 
he always clung with unwavering firmness to his original 
plan and to the ideals of his Society. 

It is time for us to revert to the story of Bishop Car- 
roll's and M. Emery's initial scheme and to trace the 
annals of St. Mary's Seminary, as the new institution 
was called. We shall not conceal from our readers the 

53 



54 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

fact that the early records of this institution, destined to 
be in the truest sense the nursery of the American Church, 
are far from full. Its beginnings were very small, and 
its childhood necessarily modest and quiet. Its growth, 
like that of all organisms destined to thrive, was slow, and 
its development stormy. But childhood is in many ways 
the most interesting period of man's life, and the same 
is true of the life of institutions. Therefore, notwith- 
standing its insignificant beginnings, the story of St. 
Mary's Seminary challenges our interest from its infancy. 

The professors sent by M. Emery to lay the foundations 
of his new seminary may be regarded as the acorn from 
which the great oak was to bud and grow. To enable us, 
therefore, to watch its early fortunes nothing will be more 
serviceable than to study the men placed by M. Emery 
at the head of St. Mary's Seminary. He had been care- 
ful and wary in selecting the new faculty, having observed 
the natural processes of life too closely to be unaware that 
a young institution must be animated by young life, that 
youth with its suppleness can weather many storms to 
which even the gnarled oak would fall a victim. So he 
had selected as his two principal professors men in the 
very heyday of youth, M. Gamier, twenty-nine years old, 
and M. Tessier, thirty-three. 

But as vigor without wisdom is exposed to many 
reverses, he gave them as guide and director a gentle sage 
approaching the sixties, a man tried in practical life, a 
good organizer, who only ^yg years before had trans- 
formed the lower seminary of which he was superior from 
an institution with four classes to one with seven classes, 
wholly changing its scope and character. This was M. 
Erancis Charles Nagot. He was a man accustomed to 
command, but sympathetic and prudent. M. Emery had 
selected him to conduct his negotiations with Bishop 
Carroll. M. i^agot had shown himseK deserving of the 




M. Fkaxcis Charles ^agot. 



ST. maby's seminaey, 1791-1810 55 

superior's confidence, for his mission had ended in suc- 
cess. Moreover, M. l^agot had more than ordinary lit- 
erary talents, for Emery had chosen him to write a life 
of M. Olier, which was ready for publication at the time 
Nagot sailed for America. The troubles of the French 
Revolution put off its publication until 1818, when it was 
printed by order of M. Duclaux, M. Emery's successor as 
superior-general of the Society of St. Sulpice. 

M. ^NTagot was suggested to M. Emery as the right man 
to conduct the new American enterprise to a successful 
issue, not only by his past successes, but also because he 
had gained the good will of Bishop Carroll, and this he 
retained during all the time that he guided the destinies 
of the seminary. He was a kind-hearted man, a gentle- 
man in the true sense of the word, of attractive manners 
and a sympathetic heart. M. Emery's letters to him 
during his imprisonment, when death stared him in the 
face, show how close were the ties which united him to 
Nagot and how completely he trusted him. ^agot de- 
served this confidence, for while, on the one hand, he was 
sympathetically responsive to his friend's wishes, he was, 
on the other hand, firm enough and honest enough to 
speak his mind when he thought the superior wrong. This 
was the case when, in 1797, Nagot wrote to M. Emery 
disapproving of his adhesion to the oath of liberty and 
equality and urged him to withdraw from its support. 
The letter stung the old superior, but he trusted iNagot to 
the day of his death. Only a short time before his decease, 
in 1811, when his Society's existence was threatened in 
France, Emery p^vposed to make M. ^agot the superior- 
general of St. Sulpice in America, including Canada. 
The latter's health and other circumstances forbade the 
carrying out of this project. Such was the man selected 
by M. Emery to be the first head of St. Mary's Seminary, 
and experience proved the wisdom of his choice. 



Ob THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

If we ask what was the sphere of M. l!^agot's activity 
in the new seminary it would be misleading to say that 
it comprised the usual duties of the head of a house for 
clerical education. Of course, he performed all the duties 
of this position, but he did a great deal more. He de- 
termined its plans and its future policy, infusing into it 
his spirit, which was the spirit of loyalty to M. Olier and 
to M. Emery and above all to himself, for M. l^agot was 
not only the agent who carried out the aims and inten- 
tions of his superiors, but their convinced disciple, their 
honest incarnation. He carried out M. Emery's injunc- 
tions to be guided by the views of M. Olier and his suc- 
cessors, not merely in a spirit of obedience, but because 
he was convinced that their spirit and policy were expe- 
dient, rightful, and necessary. 

So from the beginning he strove to make St. Mary's 
another St. Sulpice, and because he and his brethren were 
imbued with its spirit he succeeded in doing so. !N'ot that 
the new home of clerical learning was a slavish imitation of 
the Erench model. This would not have been in the spirit 
of M. Olier and M. Emery. But what was vital in the 
principles, in the practices, and in the spirit of the older 
institution was faithfully reproduced in the new. What 
these practices and customs were will appear later on. 
Meantime, we must realize at least some of the extraordi- 
nary duties laid on M. E"agot by the novelty of his 
position. 

To begin with, he was obliged to acquire a new lan- 
guage, and while this was equally true in the case of M. 
Tessier and M. Gamier, M. fagot's task was far more 
difficult. An old gentleman of sixty finds it much harder 
to acquire a new language than a man of thirty. Again, 
all the Sulpicians had to fit themselves for their new 
environment, for the peculiar needs and requirements 
of the young, rapidly rising town with few established 



ST. maey's seminary, 1791-1810 67 

traditions, to the busy life of men for whom little had 
been done by their ancestors and who must work out for 
themselves nearly all that constitutes the comforts and 
adornments of life, and to acconamodate themselves to the 
American spirit of self-help, which was the natural out- 
come of the juvenile conditions of the land. 

IN^agot was a Frenchman cast among Americans, a 
Frenchman well advanced in years and of strong con- 
servative tendencies, but at the same time a very intelli- 
gent French gentleman. How much that meant was 
shown both by the testimony of their American contem- 
poraries, who treated men like Cheverus, Flaget, and 
Dubois not only with respect, but even with reverence, and 
also by Protestant England, who did herself immortal 
honor by her generous treatment of the exiled clerical 
victims of the French Eevolution. 

M. E'agot's spotless character, his unselfish devotion, 
his earnest desire to promote the interests of the young 
American Church, and his whole-souled sympathy with 
the moderate freedom of the American Republic soon 
gained him friends and influence. He was beloved and 
trusted by Bishop Carroll. His native moderation and 
good temper and his prudent diplomacy made him an 
ideal intermediary between the Sulpician superior-general 
and the Bishop of Baltimore. He was always ready to 
be of service to the latter and always truly loyal to the 
traditional principles of the former. Along with his 
brethren of the seminary he became an impressive ele- 
ment of the Catholic clergy. Sunday after Sunday their 
presence at the principal functions added to the distinc- 
tion and solemnity of divine service. During the week, 
he and his brethren helped the bishop and his regular 
assistants in every possible way. 

Gradually the Sulpician Fathers, having sufficiently 
mastered the English language, aided the secular clergy 



58 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

in the pulpit, and long before tlie end of M. Tessier's 
administration in 1829, we see that gentleman and others 
of the faculty of St. Mary's able to grace the pulpit even 
on unusually festive occasions. Of course, though he 
had M. Tessier as econome or procurator to aid him in 
the management of the temporalities of the house, M. 
!N"agot naturally felt that his was the principal responsi- 
bility for the economic progress of the seminary. No 
doubt, also, whenever there were student classes in the 
house, and in fact at all times, he presided at the com- 
munity exercises and inspired his brethren with his own 
gentle and charitable spirit by both word and example. 
To all these domestic activities were joined, if not a 
supervisory, at least an advisory authority over the other 
Sulpicians who were serving Bishop Carroll at a distance 
from Baltimore, either as missionaries or as professors, 
nay, even as presidents in Georgetown College. 

M. !N'agot was a man of many duties and responsi- 
bilities, and a wise, faithful, and industrious servant of 
his Society, his bishop, and his seminarians. He was not 
a young man, and the wear and tear of his new life in 
Baltimore could not fail to make an impression on hia 
constitution. As early as 1795, when he had just entered 
the sixties, his strength began to fail. A stroke of apo- 
plexy, though slight, must have greatly impaired his 
vigor and power of work, but he recovered to a certain 
degree. When in 1804 he was recalled to France by M. 
Emery he was ready to obey, though, like MM. Gamier 
and Tessier, he had grown fond of his new home and was 
the trusted and devoted friend of Bishop Carroll. How- 
ever, he was detained by illness, apparently connected 
with the paralytic stroke which prostrated him ten years 
before. He therefore continued his work at Baltimore 
and eventually M. Emery changed his plans and resolved 
not to disturb the Sulpician colony at Baltimore. 



ST. maby's seminary, 1791-1810 59 

M. !N'agot was more than ever determined to make the 
seminary a success. When other sources of supply failed 
to send the needed students, he determined to provide 
them himself. He was now some seventy-three years old 
and needed rest or at least some quiet regular employ- 
ment. But the fire of zeal was still burning in the veteran. 
He left Baltimore, which had become a second home to 
him, and betook himseK to a farm located at Pigeon Hill 
in Pennsylvania, where he founded a lower seminary, 
which was attended by the German Catholic boys of 
the neighborhood who showed a vocation for the priest- 
hood. Their numbers did not go beyond ten or twelve, 
but he was not discouraged. He opened his school and 
astructed the boys in the elements of a high school edu- 
cation. In 1809 M. Emery congratulated him on his 
zeal and on the progress of his undertaking. But at the 
very time that the superior-general wrote his letter of 
congratulation, Pigeon Hill, or Friendly Hall, had ceased 
to exist and its students had been transferred to Mount 
St. Mary's, near Emmitsburg. 

M. iN'agot returned to St. Mary's Seminary, Baltimore, 
and nursed his gradually developing institution until 1810, 
when after his sacerdotal golden jubilee he was allowed to 
resign. This was about the time that M. Emery proposed 
to make the venerable priest, now in his seventy-seventh 
year, the general superior of the Society of St. Sulpice in 
America. 

M. !N^agot was an industrious writer. He was not 
only the author of several books but also the translator of 
a number of English Catholic classics into French. A 
list of his literary works is subjoined.^ 

The youngest and perhaps the most distinguished 
member of S4;. Mary's faculty was M. Anthony Gamier, 

1 "Recuell de Conversions remarquables, nouvellement operSes en quel- 
qnes Protestants," Paris, 1791 ; a "Life of M. Olier," 1818. He translated 
Hay's "Miracles" and "Devout Christian," Butler's "Feasts and Fasts," 
Challoner's "Catholic Christian Instructed," etc. 



60 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

who at the time of his arrival in Baltimore was twenty- 
nine years old. He had been for several years professor 
of dogma at Lyons, and presumably M. Emery intended 
him to fill the same chair in Baltimore. He ended his 
career as superior-general of the Society of St. Sulpice. 
M. Gamier, when settled at St. Mary's, soon accommo- 
dated himself to the new atmosphere. He was a gifted 
linguist and when, twelve years later, he returned to 
France, he spoke and wrote the English language well. 
He soon made many friends at Baltimore, and no member 
of his theological faculty so captivated Bishop Carroll 
as M. Gamier. 

On the other hand, the latter became very fond of his 
American surroundings, and when M. Emery recalled 
him to France, in 1803, he honestly confessed that to 
comply with the call was to tear asunder many ties and 
many friendships which bound him to his new home. It 
was not without a struggle that he returned to Paris, but, 
like his brethren, M. Gamier knew no compromise in a 
question of duty. When he read the letter of recall to 
Bishop Carroll, the latter suggested that he might with a 
good conscience remain at Baltimore, since M. Emery 
had not bidden him return by virtue of his vow of obedi- 
ence. Gamier made haste to reply, "But, Monseigneur, 
the Sulpicians do not take any vows and our superiors do 
not give any commands." A few weeks later he was in 
Paris. 

During the years (1T91-1803) that M. Gamier spent 
at St. Mary's his professorial work was not very absorb- 
ing. As we know, students were lacking at the seminary. 
But Gamier was a man of energy and hated idleness. He 
was a conscientious professor of philosophy, and we learn 
from his correspondence that he was an active worker on 
the missions. The very year after his arrival at Balti- 
more, the bishop entrusted him with the task of organizing 



ST. maet's seminary, 1791-1810 61 

St. Patrick's congregation at Fell's Point, near the harbor 
of Baltimore. This is still one of the most populous 
parishes in the city. Bishop Carroll was so much pleased 
with his work that he wished to take him away from the 
seminary altogether. But to this M. Emery objected, and 
M. Gamier, who was a bom student, devoted himself to 
his studies. 

Besides being a student of philosophy, he was a He- 
brew scholar, and much of his leisure time at Baltimore, 
we may infer, was given to perfecting his knowledge of 
that language. After his return to Paris, ITapoleon's 
Minister of Worship offered him the Hebrew professor- 
ship at the French University, but Gamier was too loyal 
a Sulpician to be tempted. He preferred to teach Hebrew 
at the Seminary of St. Sulpice. A young and vigorous 
scholar and teacher like Gamier was an ideal man for a 
young institution. On the one hand, he was inspired by 
love of learning and of teaching; on the other hand, he 
was a very practical man. 

On his return to France he became M. Emery's most 
confidential friend and his constant companion at St. 
Sulpice. The old superior understood his man well, 
and when he looked about for one to whom he could safely 
entrust his personal fortune he chose M. Gamier, and 
made him his sole heir. He could not have made a better 
choice. It is refreshing to read the executor's account 
of how he baffled both Napoleon's Minister of Worship 
and Cardinal Maury, the Archbishop of Paris, when they 
sought to appropriate the furniture of St. Sulpice and 
the property at Issy. It is hard to say whether he is 
entitled to more credit for his shrewdness or for his firm- 
ness. At all events, no native American could have done 
better than this attractive, scholarly French Orientalist, 
who earned the gratitude of many generations of Sul- 
pician students Ibj saving for them their attractive home 



bZ THE SULPICIANS IN" THE UNITED STATES 

at Issy. Gamier had a considerable reputation as a 
humorist, and in Sulpician circles in Paris many an 
amusing story is still told of him. 

M. Gamier's departure from the United States did not 
extinguish his interest in the American Republic and 
least of all in the seminary with whose early fortunes he 
had been so closely associated. He not only kept up his 
American friendships, but was deeply interested in the 
progress of St. Mary's, and induced several young Sulpi- 
cians to come to Baltimore. M. Deluol was one of them. 
Two years after his election as superior-general in 1827, he 
sent M. Carriere to Baltimore as his visitor, or special rep- 
resentative, of whose activity we shall have occasion to 
speak hereafter. 

M. John Mary Tessier was selected by M. Emery to 
be the third member of the new Baltimore faculty. Like 
M. Gamier, he remained at the seminary permanently, 
never leaving it even during the two or three years when 
no students were there. He was more closely associated 
with its history than either M. E'agot or M. Gamier, 
for, having become the head of the seminary after M. 
IN'agot's resignation in 1810, he ruled its destinies imtil 
1829. He was the treasurer or econome of the institution, 
and as such had much to do with the domestic order of 
the house. His office, of course, required his constant 
presence at Baltimore, even when there were no students 
at the seminary. 

His work included classes in both moral and dogmatic 
theology. Whether he taught any other branches, such 
as liturgy or sacred music, we do not know, though it is 
likely enough, and we may with much probability assign 
Sacred Scripture to M. Gamier. But M. Tessier, who 
was in his thirty-fourth year when he came to the United 
States, was no more inclined to be a drone than were MM. 
IN'agot and Gamier. At Bishop Carroll's request and 



ST. maey's semiitaey, 1Y91-1810 63 

with the approval of M. Emery he, too, devoted much of 
his time to outside work, in which we find him interested 
even after the stagnation period of St. Mary's ceased, 
and he had assumed the direction of the seminary in 
succession to M. ITagot. 

The missionary work with which M. Tessier's name is 
most closely connected, and which in fact gives him a 
special place in the history of the Catholic Church in 
the United States, was the care of the colored people in 
Baltimore. In 1801 there were in that city a large num- 
ber of colored Catholics who had come thither with their 
French masters from San Domingo and other West In- 
dian isles. Their unfortunate position appealed to the 
good Sulpician professor. He devoted himself to their 
interests, made them a part of the congregation at St. 
Mary's chapel and worked for them heart and soul, until 
finally it became a special negro parish. Even after his 
elevation to the presidency of the seminary he continued 
to be deeply interested in their welfare. How greatly 
appreciated was his activity in St. Mary's Seminary in 
its early days appears from the fact that when M. !N'agot 
resigned as superior in 1810, M. Tessier was designated 
as his successor. 

Up to the year 1803, MM. ^agot. Gamier, and Tessier 
practically formed the faculty of St. Mary's Seminary. 
At intervals, it is true, other Sulpician Fathers resided 
with them at Baltimore. Thus we find that M. Levadoux 
was at St. Mary's from 1791-92, and again from 1802-03. 
But to one who knows the customs of the Sulpicians it 
seems more likely that M. Levadoux was a temporary guest 
in the house than a definitely appointed professor. 

After a short sojourn in Philadelphia and St. Mary's 
County, Md., M. Marechal ^ spent ^Ye years at Bohemia 
Manor. Then he taught theology at St. Mary's for a short 

1 According to the table In the "Memorial Volume of the Centenary of 
St. Mary's Seminary of St. Sulpice, Baltimore, Md.," M. Marechal was 



64 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

time (1799-1801), and from 1802 to 1803 lie taught pMl- 
osophy at Georgetown. We may, therefore, safely assume 
that MM. ISTagot, Garnier, and Tessier constituted the 
faculty of St. Mary's from its opening until 1803, the 
date of M. Gamier's return to Europe. 

Having become acquainted with the governing body of 
the new seminary, we must now briefly study their work, 
and this all the more as we rarely meet elsewhere a picture 
of Catholic seminary life. 

When on the point of sailing for Baltimore, M. IN'agot 
received the instructions from M. Emery contained in 
the previous chapter. The superior-general impressed 
upon the head of the American mission the paramount 
importance of implanting in his American colony the 
spirit, the virtues, the traditions, and, as far as possible, 
the rules received by the Sulpicians from their founder, 
M. Olier. These words were not wasted on M. !N'agot, 
and from the very day of the dedication of St. Mary's 
began the rule of M. Olier's spirit and regulation. We 
have already set these forth in a general way. What we 
now propose to do is to examine how the principles of 
St. Sulpice were put into action. 

Our readers will remember that M. Emery had pro- 
vided Bishop Carroll not only with a seminary and pro- 
fessors, but also with Ryo students, who were to be the 
seed later to develop into the great seminary of Balti- 
more. Most of them had already begun their theological 
studies in various French seminaries. They had, there- 
fore, been to some extent impregnated with the Sulpician 
spirit, and were well fitted to spread it in the new insti- 
tution. Of course, this did not relieve the faculty of the 
chief burden so far as establishing its spirit and discipline 
was concerned. 

at St. Mary's from 1792-1803. But this is contradicted by the article 
"Marechal" in Appleton's "Encyclopedia of American Biography" and 
by passages in Shea's "History of the Catholic Church in the United 
States." The dates In the "Memorial Volume" are not altogether reliable. 



ST. maey's seminary, 1791-1810 65 

Seminary life, according to the Sulpician idea, was 
not merely, nor even chiefly, the life of a student. It was 
the training of a man willing to become the guide and 
helpmate of his fellow-Christians, according to the de- 
signs of Providence. Therefore, the seminarians were 
not merely to study, but also to practise the virtues to 
instil which into their future parishioners would be the 
principal object of their lives. They were to make good 
Christians by first being good Christians themselves. 
They were not to preach first, and to practise afterward, 
but to preach by practising. They were to teach respect 
for authority by displaying submission to their superiors. 

According to the rule of St. Sulpice, the young men 
entrusted to the care of the Fathers rose every morning 
at ^Ye o'clock, and this rule was carried out at Baltimore 
as soon as the institution was organized. After dressing, 
they devoted from three-quarters of an hour to an hour to 
meditation and then attended Mass. An hour or more was 
then given to study. Breakfast took place at eight 
o'clock. In France, after the fashion of the country, 
fifteen minutes sufficed for the Sulpician breakfast, but 
in Baltimore the climatic conditions and American cus- 
tom somewhat prolonged that meal. The dinner bell 
rang at twelve o'clock and tea was served in the evening 
at seven. Between a half hour and forty-five minutes 
were allowed for the former meal and about a half hour 
for the latter. Both meals were followed by an hour's 
recreation, while fifteen minutes were allowed for recrea- 
tion after breakfast. The students, whether of philosophy 
or theology, had two lectures a day, one at nine o'clock 
in the morning, the other in the afternoon at three o'clock, 
both of which lasted an hour. After the lecture the pro- 
fessor remained in the lecture room for a quarter of an 
hour to allow students to propose questions on points 
which they had failed to understand. 



QQ THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

The seminarians could not absent themselves either 
from meals or from recreation without being authorized 
to do so by the superior of the house. While the physical 
needs of the young Levites were thus diligently cared f or^ 
their spiritual wants were not neglected. Throughout the 
day their studies and their recreations were interspersed 
with short exercises of piety, which impressed upon them 
the fact that they were preparing to become in a special 
sense God's servants. Fifteen minutes before dinner they 
assembled in chapel for the examination of conscience, 
which was prefaced by reading on their knees a chapter 
from Holy Writ. At dinner a chapter from the Bible, 
the life of a saint, or some Church history was read, and, 
as is usual in religious houses, the martyrology, that is to 
say, a list of the saints whose feast falls on the day. The 
after dinner recreation was closed by the recitation of the 
rosary. Before tea half an hour was devoted to spiritual 
reading, consisting of explanations of the rules, or treatises 
on the Christian virtues. 

The time not appointed to exercises of devotion, to 
meals and recreation, was assigned to class instruction and 
to private study, two hours daily being allotted to philoso- 
phy for the students of that science, and one hour each 
daily to dogma and to moral theology for the theologians. 
If we analyze this distribution of time it will be found 
that every day eight hours, or one-third of the twenty- 
four hours, were given to sleep. Of the remaining sixteen, 
about three hours were assigned to prayer, four hours to 
meals and recreation and eight or nine to class and private 
study. 

This daily program, we are told by M. Icard, who was 
superior-general of St. Sulpice in the eighties of the last 
century, in his interesting and instructive work entitled 
"Traditions de la Compagnie des Pretres de Saint-Sul- 
pice," varied but slightly from the distribution of time 



ST. mast's seminaey, 1791-1810 67 

in vogue in M. Olier's own day. As we shall see here- 
after, M. Magnien, the superior of St. Mary's Seminary 
during the last decades of the nineteenth century, sub- 
divided the subjects of study more definitely, and made 
some other changes. But at bottom the daily program 
of studies in Sulpician seminaries does not vary radically 
from that followed by St. Mary's students from its very 
foundation. 

Besides these daily exercises there were others that 
were weekly or monthly. On Saturday before night 
prayers, and at the same hour on the eves of greater fes- 
tivals, the young men assembled to listen to one of their 
fellow-students who delivered a discourse on the Gospel 
of the following day, or on some other topic suited to the 
season. These discourses were subject to criticism by 
the professors. On Sundays and festival days the semi- 
narians with their professors assisted at the high Mass, 
Vespers and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament in 
the cathedral, and Bishop Carroll in some of his letters 
refers to the great impression made on the worshippers 
in the cathedral by the solemnity accruing to the services 
from the presence of the seminary professors. The rules 
of the institution required the seminarians to confess 
weekly. As to communion, there was no hard and fast 
rule. Students were expected to lead so virtuous a life 
that their directors would permit them to communicate 
very frequently. The entire body of rules was obviously 
dictated by a spirit of manliness and common sense and 
inspired by a full appreciation of the lofty mission for 
which the young levites were destined. 

Such in the main were the regulations which governed 
the new seminary of the Society of St. Sulpice from the 
time when it was opened in October, 1791. There were 
only ^Ye students, if indeed there were so many, for of 
the ^Ye gentlemen selected by M. Emery to be the pioneers 



68 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

of St. Mary's, we find that only tliree were ordained there. 
At least two of these spoke English, perhaps also the third. 
Besides their regular studies they probably acted as in- 
structors in English to their professors. Perrineau and 
Floyd were theologians, for they were ordained in 1794 
and 1795, while Montdesir, who was a philosopher, was 
not ordained until 1798. 

In 1792, St. Mary's received a new student in the per- 
son of Stephen Badin, who was to have the distinction of 
being the first Catholic priest ordained in the United 
States. He was bom at Orleans in 1768, and while en- 
gaged in his theological studies was compelled to seek 
refuge in America from the terrors of the French Bevo- 
lution. In 1793, a year after his arrival in Baltimore, 
he was ordained. The next year he spent at Georgetown 
teaching and perfecting his knowledge of English. Then 
he went to Kentucky and remained in the West during 
the remainder of his life, except during nine years, from 
1819-1828, which he spent in Europe. In Kentucky he 
built a number of churches for the pioneer Catholics, and 
proved an equally successful missionary among the Pot- 
tawattomie Indians after his return from Europe. He 
was besides a man of literary tastes, being the author of 
the first Catholic book published in the West, entitled 
"Principles of Catholics." He also wrote Latin verse, 
several of his poems having come down to us. 

The writer's friend, Father Charles Hippolyte de 
Luynes, S.J., who was professor of theology in Bishop 
Flaget's seminary in Bardstown during the thirties of 
the last century, and was himseK a graduate of St. Sul- 
pice in Paris, knew Father Badin in the West and spoke 
of him as a genial, clever man, with no little Gallic wit, 
very popular among Catholics and non-Catholics alike. 
To Father de Luynes the writer is indebted for the fol- 
lowing story, which is too good not to be recorded. 



ST. maby's seminary, 1791-1810 69 

Father Badin's Sunday missionary trips often brought 
him into contact with some of his Protestant confreres, 
who put up at the same inns as himself. Badin was a 
great favorite with them all and equally popular was his 
mare, which the old missionary had ridden for many 
years. One Saturday evening Father Badin came to a 
certain inn mounted on a new horse, and immediately two 
or three of his Protestant colleagues became solicitous 
and inquired for the priest's quadruped friend. Badin 
with every sign of grief told them that the mare was dead. 
One of the ministers thereupon expressed the hope that 
Father Badin had given her Extreme Unction. The latter 
ruefully shook his head and, manifesting his disgust, de- 
clared that the old mare had apostatized and turned Prot- 
estant. Badin died in 1853. 

The second recruit who came to St. Mary's Seminary 
was the Russian prince, Demetrius Augustine Gallitzin. 
He became a student of St. Mary's in !N'ovember, 1792, 
and was ordained in 1795 under the name of Schmet or 
Smith. He did not, as is sometimes stated, become a 
Catholic in Baltimore, having taken this step five years 
before. He was a son of Prince Gallitzin, the Russian 
ambassador at The Hague, and his wife, a daughter of 
the Prussian General von Schmettau. Both the Prince 
and the Princess grew up as Rationalists, but in 1786 the 
Princess became a Catholic, and later was the center of 
the Catholic literary circle in Miinster, Westphalia. 
Prince Gallitzin, the son, before his ordination asked to 
be received as a member of the Society of St. Sulpice. 
His reception took place on February 23, 1795. Bishop 
Carroll insisted upon his going on the mission, and the 
Prince never rejoined the community. He founded 
various Catholic colonies in Pennsylvania, the best known 
of which, Loretto, exists to this day. His name became 
a household word in the mountainous districts of Pennsyl- 



70 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

vania and Maryland. Several biograpliies of the Prince 
have been published, one in German by Father Lemcke 
of Miinster and one in English by Miss Sarah Brownson. 

M. Perrineau, after studying two and one-half years 
at St. Mary's, was raised to the priesthood in 1794. John 
Ployd, an Englishman and convert, was ordained Decem- 
ber 19, 1795, and also proved to be a worthy son of St. 
Sulpice. Even before his ordination he had been associated 
with M. Garnier in his missionary labors at Fell's Point 
among the people of St. Patrick's congregation. After 
receiving Holy Orders he was appointed their pastor and 
built the first St. Patrick's Church, a very simple build- 
ing, which was the precursor of the present church of 
the same name. Floyd's career was destined to be short 
but edifying. In September, 1797, he attended a parish- 
ioner prostrated with yellow fever and immediately after- 
ward was stricken by the plague and carried off. At his 
own request he was buried before the church door, the first 
fruit of the Sulpician mission. 

M. Montdesir, the youngest of M. !N'agot's pioneer stu- 
dents, taught at Georgetown; he returned to St. Mary's 
in 1796, was ordained in 1798, exercised the ministry up 
to 1801 and then returned to France, where some of his 
memoirs have been published. 

The first native American student who received Holy 
Orders at St. Mary's Seminary was Father William Mat- 
thews (1800), the nephew of the Most Reverend Leonard 
ISTeale, second Archbishop of Baltimore. In 1805 he 
became the pastor of St. Patrick's Church in Washington, 
a position which he held until his death fifty years later. 
In 1808 he was for a time the president of Georgetown 
College. He seems to have been interested in educational 
and literary matters throughout his long life. Of the 
four other alumni of St. Mary's, previous to 1808, two 
were Frenchmen, of whom we only know the date of their 



ST. Mary's seminaey, 1791-1810 71 

ordination, and one, Father Ignatius Brooke, was a Mary- 
lander. The fourth, Father Michael Cuddy, ordained 
in 1803, became the first resident pastor of St. Patrick's 
Church, at Fell's Point, where he died in 1804, a victim 
of yellow fever, contracted while visiting the sick of his 
parish. 

Though it is true that during the first ten or twelve 
years of its activity St. Mary's Seminary had not many 
students, it is equally true that her alumni were men of 
character and a fair proportion of them men of distinction, 
of whom their alma mater has every reason to be proud. 
The fact that a number of them were not only zealous 
missionaries but also men of literary accomplishments 
certainly bears witness to the scholarly spirit infused into 
them by their Sulpician teachers. 

From 1803 to 1808 there is a gap in the list of St. 
Mary's alumni, the cause of which has already been re- 
ferred to. Here we need only say that not only Bishop 
Carroll, but also the gentlemen of St. Sulpice themselves 
made strenuous efforts to procure students for the semi- 
nary. MM. Babad and Dubourg established St. Mary's 
College in Baltimore, the history of which we shall treat 
more at length hereafter. M. Flaget, shortly after his 
arrival in America, went to the West, partly to investigate 
what prospects there were for a preparatory college in the 
old French settlements near the Mississippi. But the 
results were disappointing. 

In 1806 another preparatory seminary was established 
at Pigeon Hill, on a farm in Adams County, Pennsyl- 
vania, donated to the Sulpicians by M. Joseph Harent, a. 
French gentleman who subsequently joined the Society 
of St. Sulpice. This institution, strictly reserved for 
young men desiring to become priests, drew its scholars,, 
some dozen in all, from the neighboring Pennsylvania 
Germans. Besides M. Dilhet, the venerable head of St^ 



72 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

Mary's Seminary, Father Nagot himseK, went there to 
instruct the boys in the elements of the classics and 
mathematics. When, however, a year or two afterward 
M. Dubois opened Mount St. Mary's College at Emmits- 
burg, the Pigeon Hill students were transferred there. 

Surely the American Sulpicians by these repeated ef- 
forts showed how thoroughly in earnest they were to meet 
the views of M. Emery and to create conditions promis- 
ing a richer and steadier supply of students for the Balti- 
more Seminary. At all events, through their vigorous 
efforts and those of the bishop there came about a marked 
change for the better. According to the Abbe Gosselin,^ 
the seminary in 1804 had as many as twelve students and 
in 1806 seven tonsured students were promoted, the larg- 
est number thus far ordained at one time in the United 
States. The year 1808 was even more remarkable in 
this respect, for Bishops Carroll and Neale in that year 
promoted to the priesthood no less than six candidates, 
the former two at Baltimore, the latter four at George- 
town. It should be remarked that the four ordained by 
Bishop ITeale, after pursuing their studies for a time 
under the Sulpician instruction had joined the recently 
revived Society of Jesus. 

During the remainder of M. !N"agot's administration 
only two seminarians were promoted to the priesthood. 
But these last fruits of the good old superior's educational 
activity did no less credit to their teachers than their pred- 
ecessors. Most prominent among them was Benedict 
Fenwick, one of the young men ordained at Georgetown, 
whose scholarship and activity proved a blessing wherever 
they found a field. The year after his ordination he aided 
Father Anthony Kohlmann, S.J., in his duties as vicar- 
general of the new diocese of "New York. He was the 
mainstay of the N"ew York Literary Institution, the first 

1 Gosselin, op. cit.j vol. ii, p. 151. 



ST. maby's seminary, 1791-1810 73 

Jesuit high school in that city. Later on he became 
president of Georgetown College and gave a great impulse 
to its prosperity. Then he restored harmony and order 
among the quarreling Catholics of Charleston, S. C, and 
after again administering Georgetown College he was ap- 
pointed Bishop of Boston (1825) to succeed Cardinal 
Cheverus. As head of the IsTew England diocese his in- 
fluence was felt, from the Indian missions in Maine to 
the limits of the !N'ew York diocese, organizing parishes 
and building churches, so that at his death, in 1846, in- 
stead of the fifteen churches and chapels he found there 
in 1825, he left fifty to his successor. He had, moreover, 
built the well-known convent at Charlestown, which was 
burned by a mob of bigots, and established Holy Cross 
College at Worcester, Mass., at present the most flourish- 
ing Jesuit college in the United States. 

Enoch Fenwick was another of the four young Jesuits 
ordained by Bishop Neale at Georgetown. His merits may 
be inferred from the fact that he was president of George- 
town College in 1822. Of the secular priests, the best 
known was the Rev. M. E. Roloff, who was active on the 
missions in various places. After his ordination, having 
taught for some time at Pigeon Hill, he was sent to the 
German parish of the Holy Trinity in Philadelphia. 
Later he was noted for his activity in what is now West 
Virginia, at Martinsburg and Wheeling, and in 1841 we 
find him entrusted with the task of building the first Ger- 
man Catholic church in Boston, Mass. Father Roloff 
was a native of Bavaria, and was probably the first Ger- 
man American priest ordained in the United States. 

In 1810, the last year of M. i^Tagot's administration, 
the only student ordained at St. Mary's was the Rev. 
James Hector !N"icholas Joubert de la Muraille, the 
descendant of a noble French family. He left France at 
the time of the Revolution and accepted an oflBce in the 



74 THE STJLPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

tax department in San Domingo, where a wealthy uncle of 
his had settled. He escaped from the island during the 
negro uprising and reached Baltimore in safety. There 
he entered the seminary, and after his ordination de- 
voted himself to the service of the black race, many of 
whom, faithful to their masters, had fled with them to 
Baltimore. The difficulties of catechizing these poor peo- 
ple led him and Father Tessier, in 1828, to organize a 
little society of colored women to aid in their instruction. 
They drew up for them a body of rules, which was ap- 
proved by Pope Gregory XYI in 1831. In this way M. 
Joubert became the founder of the Oblate Sisters of 
Providence, which at present numbers some ten houses 
in the United States and Cuba, with a membership of 
about one hundred and forty nuns. The Eev. M. Joubert 
became a Sulpician and resided at St. Mary's Seminary 
to the end of his life. 

After M. Garnier's recall to France in 1803, he was 
replaced by M. John Baptist David, a Breton, born near 
iN'antes, in 1761. After his ordination, in 1785, he joined 
the Society of St. Sulpice, and was professor of philosophy 
and theology in various French seminaries imtil the dis- 
orders of the French Eevolution sent him to Baltimore 
in 1792. Bishop Carroll entrusted him with the missions 
in the lower part of Maryland, where he proved a zealous 
pastor of souls. He, it is said, was the first in America 
to preach retreats to lay people. For two years he taught 
philosophy at Georgetown and in 1804 he was called to St. 
Mary's Seminary, where he remained until 1811, prob- 
ably attending to most of the work which M. Gamier 
had done until 1803. Another distinguished Sulpician 
who was connected with the seminary during this period 
was the saintly M. Flaget. 

The institution during these years was, therefore, in 
excellent hands, and quietly but effectively grew in 



ST. maey's seminary, 1791-1810 75 

strength and numbers. In one particular only St. Mary's 
was at a disadvantage. M. Nagot, since his return from 
Pigeon Hill or Friendly Hall, was failing in health, hav- 
ing passed the traditional three score and ten and never 
having recovered completely from his paralytic stroke in 
1795. Age was now dealing harshly with the venerable 
superior's diminishing reserve of strength. As the years 
wore on he felt more and more the ravages of time. Un- 
willing to cling to an office for which he was conscious 
he had no longer the strength, he determined to place 
the interests of St. Sulpice on younger and more vigorous 
shoulders. Accordingly, in 1810, he resigned his office 
as superior and became a simple inmate of the house 
which he had governed so wisely, so loyally, and so gently 
for nineteen years. He continued to dwell at St. Mary's, 
revered and cherished by all his brethren, whom he loved, 
and to be for them an example of piety, simplicity, and 
devotion to duty until he was called to his reward in 
the year 1816. 



Chapter TV 

Administeation of M. John Mary Tessiee, 1810-1829 

M. Jolin Mary Tessier was the successor of M. !N'agot 
as superior of St. Mary's Seminary (1810). Every con- 
sideration of wisdom and expediency pointed him out 
as the man to take up the first superior's work. He had 
been associated with M. !N"agot from the very foundation 
of the seminary, and he was still in the vigor of his 
strength, having reached the age of fifty-two years. From 
the first he had been appreciated by Bishop Carroll for 
his admirable qualities of character and learning and 
for his practical views of things. We find his name 
associated with the bishop's on such occasions as the 
opening of the first Synod of Baltimore in 1791 and the 
blessing of St. Patrick's Church at Fell's Point in 1792. 
He always retained the bishop's confidence, which he had 
gained thus early. He was thoroughly familiar with the 
temporal needs and resources of the institution, for from 
the beginning he had been its treasurer and business man- 
ager. Of the original professors, now that M. Gamier 
was in Europe and M. iN'agot was shelved by age, he was 
the only one left. His appointment was, therefore, almost 
a necessity. M. Tessier was a man of vigorous physique, 
sturdy and robust. His prominent, substantial nose, his 
thin and drawn lips, and round face suggested a man of 
determination. His was a serious but a kind and affable 
face, on the whole inspiring confidence in his good will 
as well as in his power to protect all who were committed 
to his care. 

76 




M. Jean Marie Tessier. 



ADMINISTRATION OF M. JOHN MARY TESSIEK 77 

In 1810 the only Sulpician at St. Mary's besides M. 
Tessier was M. John Baptist David, whose name is in- 
separable from that of the great Bishop Flaget, and who 
became the latter's coadjutor at Bardstown. He was a 
rotund, good-natured Breton, whose learning was equaled 
by his piety, but he was not destined to stay with M. 
Tessier for a long time. In 1811, at the request of M. 
Emery, he accompanied Bishop Flaget to Bardstown, and 
was the chief pillar of the Bardstown Seminary for many 
years. His place at St. Mary's was taken in 1812 by M. 
Ambrose Marechal. This gentleman, who became the 
third Archbishop of Baltimore, was a native of Ingres, 
near Orleans, having been bom there in 1768. He at 
first studied jurisprudence, but his pious disposition 
led him to the seminary and finally induced him to 
join the Society of St. Sulpice. When, in 1792, the hor- 
rors of the Revolution drove him, before he could say his 
first Mass, to seek refuge in the United States, he seemed 
at first destined to be a missionary. But he was nat- 
urally a student. After &ve years' service at Bohemia 
Manor we find him at the seminary, from which he at- 
tended the Winchester Mission, twenty-two miles distant 
from Baltimore. For a year (1801-02) he taught philoso- 
phy at Georgetown. 

M. Emery recalled him to France in 1803. There he 
was active as professor of theology at St. Flour, Aix, and 
Lyons until l^apoleon suppressed the Sulpicians shortly 
before his fall. So it came about that in 1812 he was 
made professor of theology at St. Mary's, Baltimore, and 
during the next ^yo years became the principal professor 
of theology there. He was eminently fitted for the place, 
not only by his theological learning and his virtues, but 
also by his loyalty to his adopted country. How well his 
patriotism fitted him to inspire the young clergymen who 
were to instil love of country into the minds of the future 



78 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

Catholic citizens of the United States, we may infer from 
his bold and vigorous opposition to the interference of 
foreign prelates in the administration of the Church in 
America. We have in mind here the attempts in this 
direction, at iN'orfolk and at Richmond, Va., about 1818 
and 1820. 

M. Marechal's success at the seminary was so great, 
and the impression he made so marked, that he was ap- 
pointed coadjutor to Archbishop !N"eale, who, however, 
died before the arrival in Baltimore of the Bulls creating 
M. Marechal his assistant, with the right of succession. 
When they finally came, M. Marechal was forthwith con- 
secrated Archbishop of Baltimore, and so the seminary 
lost the services of this distinguished and able Sulpician. 
His place was taken by M. Louis Regis Deluol, who was 
professor of theology until the arrival of M. Fredet in 
1831. M. Deluol had taught theology at the seminary of 
Viviers after the suppression of the Sulpicians by iN'a- 
poleon. When, however, the Society was reconstituted 
by Louis XYIII in 1814, M. Deluol was admitted as a 
member and in 1817 was sent to Baltimore. He as- 
sumed his new duties with great energy, and soon was 
master of the English language. He became quite an 
orator, as appears from the fact that he delivered the 
funeral oration of Archbishop Whitfield, October 21, 
1834. He was also the preacher at the Synod of Balti- 
more, held November 8, 1831. 

M. Deluol proved to be a man of great practical and 
administrative talent, which led to his being named su- 
perior-general of the Sisters of Charity at Emmitsburg, a 
position he filled so well that even after resigning this 
office, in 1829, he greatly influenced the government of 
the Sisterhood. M. Deluol was a distinguished scholar 
and an able teacher, and so during the administration of 



ADMINISTRATION OF M. JOHN MARY TESSIEE 79 

M. Tessier St. Mary's faculty, though small, was efficient 
and successful. 

In the last chapter we saw that about 1804 there was 
an increase in the number of students who attended the 
seminary. This does not mean that about this time the 
attendance at the seminary grew to great proportions. A 
large number of theologians was not desirable, because 
the number of Catholics in Bishop Carroll's diocese was 
still very small. Moreover, the great diocese of Baltimore 
was divided in 1808, and other clerical seminaries sprang 
up in different parts of the country. But after the acces- 
sion of M. Tessier as superior of the seminary there was 
an uninterrupted stream of candidates for the priesthood. 
In the nineteen years during which he governed the insti- 
tution, forty-eight priests were ordained, according to the 
"Memorial Volume of the Centenary of St. Mary's Semi- 
nary" (p. 49 sqq.). The largest number ordained at one 
time, namely five, was in 1819, while in the years 1813, 
1816, 1822, 1823 only a single student was raised to the 
priesthood. 

The yearly elevations of alumni to the priesthood sug- 
gest that the stream of students, if not great, was steady. 
As a whole, St. Mary's candidates for the priesthood were 
quite representative of the Catholic population of the 
archdiocese and its suffragans. Among the forty-eight 
young men who completed their studies there under M. 
Tessier we notice some fourteen whose names sug- 
gest Maryland descent, such as Elder, Wheeler, Jami- 
son, and Knight. This shows that the old Maryland 
families had lost none of their devotion to the Church, 
and that they still formed a strong factor in the ecclesias- 
tical life of the archdiocese. We count nineteen Irish 
names, some of which, of course, may belong to the old 
Maryland stock, but most of whom probably belong to a 
more recent immigration. The seven German students 



80 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

were, in all likeliliood, the offspring of the old German 
Jesuit parishes in Pennsylvania, which had remained un- 
der the pastoral care of the former Jesuits even after the 
suppression of the Society. 

As the French students seem to have been all, or for the 
most part, native Frenchmen we can not go far wrong in 
assuming that they were drawn to Baltimore by the influ- 
ence of the Sulpician Fathers, and this inference is con- 
firmed by the fact that several of them afterward joined 
the Society of St. Sulpice. Even the convert element in 
the population of the new Eepublic was duly represented 
by such men as Samuel Eccleston and Samuel Cooper, 
both of whom were scions of old Protestant families. The 
student body at St. Mary's was truly catholic in the num- 
ber of nations represented, and catholic in the feeling of 
charity which bound them all in one harmonious com- 
munity. MM. Tessier and Deluol achieved this remark- 
able result not only by the exercise of their authority, but, 
perhaps, even more by their gentleness, and by the spirit 
of M. Olier, whose watchword was peace and love. 

"What contributed not a little to the harmony and suc- 
cess which characterized the seminary was the fact that 
the institution was the home of industry and work, and 
was animated by the spirit of scholarship and love of 
literature. The number of scholars, Catholic and Prot- 
estant, at this time to be found in the United States was 
naturally small, and one of the great difficulties with 
which all American institutions of higher learning strug- 
gled was the lack of scholarly teachers. Even in the older 
colleges we often find young Bachelors of Arts promoted 
to professorships with surprising rapidity. The Catho- 
lics, who had been tolerated only since the year of Inde- 
pendence, suffered no less from this evil than non-Catho- 
lics. How Georgetown was cramped in this particular 
we have already seen, and it has been remarked that St. 



ADMINISTRATION OF M. JOHN MARY TESSIEE 81 

Mary's was retarded in its growth by the needs of George- 
town. 

In the same way many of the graduates of Mount St. 
Mary's, Emmitsburg, and many of the students in its 
seminary were drafted to instruct the students in the lower 
classes of that institution. St. Mary's College had ex- 
isted alongside of the seminary grounds since 1799. The 
history of the seminary makes it clear that the pedagogic 
work of its students was in some ways beneficial to these 
young men themselves. The authorities of the seminary 
saw to it that they were not overburdened with work, and 
the mental drill which is of necessity connected with the 
teacher's work was a decided advantage to them in their 
theological studies. It made them more critical in their 
own work and markedly advanced them in their mastery 
of the vernacular. As a consequence not a few of these 
student teachers afterward became skilful writers, and 
their acquirements enabled them, in the contemporary 
journals and by the publication of scholarly books, to con- 
tribute to the defense of Catholic doctrine and the in- 
struction of the Catholic laity. 

Among the alumni of St. Mary's who were active in 
this field was Kev. George A. M. Elder, a Kentuckian, 
who was one of the editors of the "Catholic Advocate," 
published in Bardstown, Ky. He was also the author 
of a pamphlet entitled "Letters to Brother Jonathan." 
We may add that he was likewise the founder of St. Jo- 
seph's College, Bardstown (1820-23), and its first presi- 
dent. The Rev. Ignatius A. Reynolds, afterward Bishop 
of Charleston, was the editor of Bishop England's works. 
The most prominent Catholic litterateur in the United 
States in the first half of the nineteenth century was the 
Rev. Dr. Charles Constantino Pise, ordained at St. 
Mary's in 1825. He wrote not only a history of the 
Church in five volumes, but also several novels and a vol- 



b25 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

ume of poems. He was likewise the editor of the "Met- 
ropolitan" and the "Catholic Expositor." He has the 
distinction of having been the only Catholic chaplain of 
the United States Senate and was a great friend of Henry- 
Clay. 

That their teaching experience at St. Mary^s remained 
a lifelong inspiration for some of its alumni is evident 
by the zeal for the cause of education displayed by many 
of them. We do not claim that we have gathered the 
names of all the alumni of this period who deserve to 
be recorded as educators. We have already mentioned 
Father George A. M. Elder, the founder and first presi- 
dent of St. Joseph's College, Bardstown, Ky. Associated 
with him in this work was the Rev. William Byrne, a 
most enthusiastic apostle of education, who, besides St. 
Joseph's, founded several boys' and girls' schools in Penn- 
sylvania. He died a victim of his devotion to his pastoral 
duties during the cholera epidemic of 1832. 

Another alumnus who was especially interested in edu- 
cation was the Bev. Michael F. Wheeler, to whom the 
Academy of the Visitation is indebted for many bene- 
factions, and who remained its friend to his death, which, 
like Father Byrne's, was due to cholera. He had been 
president of St. Mary's College, Baltimore, from 1827-28. 
To the Rev. J. P. Cloriviere, the Georgetown Academy 
of the Yisitatipn owes an equal debt of gratitude. This 
remarkable man, better known as Chevalier de Limoelan, 
had fought the French Republic in the Vendee under Ca- 
doudal. Having been implicated in the plot of 3 ISTivose 
he succeeded in evading the French police, crossed the At- 
lantic, and determined (1808) to give the rest of his life 
to the Church. His eminent services to the Sisters of the 
Visitation have never been forgotten by them.^ 

The Rev. John Larkin was ordained at St. Mary's in 

1 See "A Sketch of J. P. Limoelan de Clorivi6re," by P. Marique, Ph.D., 
in "Historical Records and Studies," vol. viii, pp. 197-208. 



ADMINISTRATION OF M. JOHN MAEY TESSIEE 83 

1827. He was a native of iN'ewcastle-on-Tyne in Eng- 
land, but of Irish extraction. He had been a pupil of 
Dr. Lingard at Ushaw, where Cardinal Wiseman was one 
of his fellow-students. Subsequently he had begun his 
theological studies at St. Sulpice in Paris and had come 
to Baltimore to complete them. After his ordination he 
joined the Society of St. Sulpice and went to Canada, 
where he acquired a great reputation as a classical profes- 
sor. How closely he was associated with his old teachers 
is proved by the fact that when, in 1841, he thought of 
becoming a Jesuit he consulted his professor, M. Deluol, 
at Baltimore before taking the final step. As a Jesuit 
he was equally reputed as a scholar, an orator, and a wise 
and prudent administrator. He was the first president 
of the Jesuit high school in ITew York which afterward 
became St. Francis Xavier's College (1847-49), and in 
1851 he became rector of St. John's College, Fordham. 

Prominent among this galaxy of educators was the 
Eight Eev. George A. Carroll, who died Bishop of Cov- 
ington in 1868. After filling a chair at the University 
of St. Louis, he was its president from 1845 to 1848. 
Between 1851 and 1853 he was president of Purcell Man- 
sion College, Cincinnati. Dr. Charles Constantino Pise, 
of whom we have spoken above, was for some years pro- 
fessor at Mount St. Mary's College, Emmitsburg. Fa- 
thers Damphoux, Xaupi, Hickey, and Harent joined the 
Society of St. Sulpice and rendered notable services to 
education at St. Mary's College, Baltimore. Harent, 
moreover, donated to the Society of St. Sulpice his farm 
in Pennsylvania, the farm on which M. l^agot founded 
the lower seminary of Pigeon Hill or Friendly Hall. M. 
Chanche, who became the first Bishop of Il^atchez, after 
being for many years a member of St. Mary's faculty, 
served as president of the college, 1835-1840. 

M. Olier and the other Sulpicians, regarding as they 



84 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

did the formation of a true Christian apostolic character 
as the foremost aim of their Society and of their semi- 
nary work, the aspirants to clerical honors and dignities 
were first of all to be filled with the spirit of charity and 
devotion to their flocks and their duties. The men who 
left St. Mary's during M. Tessier's administration real- 
ized by their lives and their work the ideals which their 
teachers placed before them. Throughout a great part of 
the United States, not only in Maryland and Kentucky 
and the South, but also in Pennsylvania and farther north, 
their lives constitute the annals of the Church. They 
were good, earnest missionaries and pastors, zealous teach- 
ers and founders of boys' and girls' schools when the 
opportunities of acquiring elementary learning were scant 
and difficult of access. We find them eager to help the 
sick and the poor by founding institutions of charity for 
the relief of every kind of human misery. They built hos- 
pitals and orphan asylums as well as churches. When 
those dreadful scourges, cholera and yellow fever, invaded 
our country they defied their terrors and unhesitatingly 
gave their lives for their flocks, as we have seen in the case 
of Fathers Byrne and Wheeler. 

But St. Mary's furnished not only most of the parish 
clergy to the archdiocese of Baltimore and its suffra- 
gans, but it also gave able, distinguished, and pious prel- 
ates to many sees in different parts of the Kepublic, men 
who proved that their instructors understood not only how 
to train them in virtue and learning, but also how to de- 
velop in them the wisdom, foresight, and authoritative 
character which are indispensable to the good governor. 

Two of these prelates, besides being pupils of the Sul- 
picians, joined the Society of St. Sulpice. These were 
Bishop Chanche of !N'atchez and Mgr. Eccleston, the 
fifth Archbishop of Baltimore. Bishop Chanche, after 
teaching at St. Mary's for twenty-three years, and serving 



ADMINISTRATION OF M. JOHN MAEY TESSIEE 85 

as its president (1835-1840), and having twice refused 
the mitre, finally accepted the bishopric of Natchez, a see 
without church or priest. Here he not only built eleven 
churches and established thirty-two missionary stations, 
but introduced various Sisterhoods to take charge of the 
schools, academies, and orphan asylums which he founded. 
He died in 1853. 

Mgr. Ignatius Chabrat, coadjutor of Bishop Flaget 
after being a zealous missionary in Kentucky, directed for 
some years the famous convent of Loretto. The loss of 
his eyesight caused him to resign as bishop. 

The Eev. Ignatius A. Eeynolds was an unusually able 
and energetic priest. After proving himself a faithful 
missionary, an inspiring teacher and an eloquent orator 
in his native diocese of Bardstown, he became president 
of Bardstown College. ITearly fifty years afterward the 
writer heard his old friend. Father de Luynes, who dur- 
ing the fourth decade of the last century had been pro- 
fessor in Bardstown Seminary, speak of him with un- 
bounded admiration. He was the first Catholic pastor 
of Louisville, where he founded an orphanage and where 
he subsequently became vicar-general. As Bishop of 
Charleston, S. C. (1844-52), he gained the love and re- 
spect of Catholics and non-Catholics, so that he was 
scarcely less popular than Bishop England had been. 

Of Bishop Carrell, who became a member of the So- 
ciety of Jesus before he was raised to the see of Coving- 
ton, we have already spoken. After his elevation to the 
episcopacy he proved himself a vigorous administrator, 
building churches, establishing schools, founding hospi- 
tals and orphan asylums, and building St. Mary's Ca- 
thedral in little more than two years. The most distin- 
guished prelate sent forth by the Baltimore Seminary 
during M. Tessier's term was the fifth Archbishop of Bal- 
timore, the Most Rev. Samuel Eccleston. Bom in Kent 



86 THE SULPICIANS m THE UNITED STATES 

County, Maiyland, in 1801, Dr. Eccleston became a Cath- 
olic while a student of St. Mary's College, and after his 
ordination, in 1825, continued his theological studies at 
Issy, near Paris. He then joined the Society of St. Sul- 
pice, became a member of the faculty of St. Mary's Col- 
lege, Baltimore, and finally its president (1829-34). 

As Archbishop of Baltimore, in addition to watching 
over the interests of education and looking after the Ger- 
man Catholics, who were unable to speak English, he se- 
cured a more perfect system in the government of the 
Church by holding ^Ye provincial councils. He regulated 
the relation of the Church to the State by settling the mode 
of transmitting Church property from bishop to bishop, 
and confirmed the principle that a State divorce is not 
valid before the tribunal of the Church. In short, Dr. Ec- 
cleston was universally regarded as the model of a wise, 
watchful, scholarly, and patriotic prelate, an honor to the 
old Maryland stock and to the men who had reared and 
trained him in virtue and religion. 

1^0 further words are needed to convince the reader that 
under M. Tessier St. Mary's was an eminently useful 
institution; that its professors were men markedly fitted 
to train students in learning and virtue, and to develop 
in them all those qualities of mind and morals which 
made them useful men, useful alike to Church and State, 
able to advance the cause of education, of literature, of 
civic order, and of religion. To achieve this result was 
the purpose of the daily work of both professor and stu- 
dent. 

But all the energy of M. Tessier was not expended 
within the four walls of St. Mary's Seminary. The Sul- 
pician Seminary, and especially its head, stands in a pecu- 
liarly close relation to the bishop of the diocese, who is 
in fact as well as in theory the supreme head of the semi- 
nary. One of the chief preoccupations of the leading men 



ADMINISTRATION OF M. JOHN MAKY TESSIEE 87 

in St. Sulpice had, therefore, always been to gain tlie con- 
fidence of the ordinary of the see and to aid him in every 
manner. 

M. Tessier did not neglect this duty. His was fortu- 
nately so attractive a character that he won for himself 
the hearts of Archbishops Carroll and !N'eale, as well as 
the good will of his brother in St. Sulpice, Archbishop 
Marechal. On occasions of great solemnity he and his 
brethren of the seminary appeared as members of the suite 
of the archbishop. When, in October, 1821, Archbishop 
Marechal went to Europe, M. Tessier acted as adminis- 
trator in his absence. It was the Sulpician superior who 
blessed St. Peter's Church in Washington (!N'ovember 4, 
1821) and the chapel of the Convent of the Visitation. 
M. Tessier seems also to have been the right hand of Arch- 
bishop Whitfield of Baltimore, who appointed him his vi- 
car-general. He had then acquired a competent knowl- 
edge of the English language, for at the Synod of Balti- 
more, held E'ovember, 1831, he was one of the official 
preachers. 

Of course, all the students of St. Mary's were not au- 
thors, college presidents, and archbishops in embryo, but 
the proportion of men of character and ability was very- 
high, and the remainder of the seminarians were good 
men, conscientious, industrious, and intelligent, all of 
whom proved worthy laborers in the vineyard of the Lord 
and brought honor to themselves and their alma mater. 
The community life of such a company was fully as at- 
tractive as it was laborious. Tastes were created and 
satisfied that gave joy and consecration to the rest of 
their lives. Friendships were contracted which neither 
time nor separation could tear asunder, and these friend- 
ships were formed not only among the students but also 
between them and the professors. Life was restful and 



88 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

happy, but not tedious or monotonous, and every year 
made the institution more useful and promising. 

There were occasions, however, when St. Mary's felt 
the stirrings of unusual life and hope, when the gay 
colors of progress and festivity adorned her halls and 
when the outside world participated in her triumph. Per- 
haps the most distinguished of these festive occasions was 
celebrated on January 25, 1824. On that day Archbishop 
Marechal, who some time before had paid a visit to the 
Holy Father and asked him to make his seminary a uni- 
versity, acting as the representative of Pius VIII, sol- 
emnly conferred on St. Mary's Seminary the rights and 
privileges of a university. The celebration took place 
in the cathedral, and was graced not only by the presence 
of the diocesan clergy and the students of the seminary, 
but also by many citizens, Catholic and non-Catholic, and 
by the entire body of the students of St. Mary's College. 

Various congratulatory addresses were delivered, among 
them one in Latin by a senior of the college which at- 
tracted much attention on account of its taste and schol- 
arly diction. The young orator was Samuel Eccleston, 
destined later to become Archbishop of Baltimore. The 
new university without delay exercised its rights and 
conferred the doctorate of theology on the vicar-general of 
the diocese, later Archbishop Whitfield; on M. Deluol, 
professor at the seminary, and on M. Damphoux, presi- 
dent of St. Mary's College, Baltimore. The following 
year all the seminary took part in the public Fourth of 
July celebration, at which the Rev. Mr. Eccleston, only 
lately ordained, had been invited to say the opening 
prayer. 

iN'otwithstanding the constitutional modesty of the Sul- 
pician Fathers, therefore, their merits had been appre- 
ciated not only at Rome, but also by the non-Catholics in 
their new country. 'No doubt, no one was more delighted 




M. Antoine Garxier. 



ADMINISTEATION OF M. JOHN MAEY TESSIEE 89 

with the progress of the seminary than the venerable su- 
perior, M. Tessier. St. Mary's is still in possession of his 
"Epoques du Seminaire de Baltimore/' and of his diary 
recounting the incidents in its history that he thought note- 
worthy. It is not difficult to sympathize with the joyous 
notes which we meet in its pages. 

IN'o doubt the administration of M. Tessier, so far as 
the government of St. Mary's Seminary goes, was emi- 
nently peaceful and prosperous. But in that capacity he 
had also the supervision of the other Sulpician institu- 
tions which had sprung up since the beginning of the cen- 
tury, that is to say, of St. Mary's College, Baltimore, and, 
for several years at least, of Mount St. Mary's College, 
Emmitsburg. The history of these institutions we shall 
give more fully in subsequent chapters. Here it will suffice 
to say that the financial affairs of these institutions had 
given much care and anxiety to the gentle superior, whose 
years had now reached the traditional three score and ten. 

The superior-general of the Society of St. Sulpice at 
this time was M. Gamier, who had himseK been a member 
of St. Mary's faculty and who had always retained a 
warm interest in the American institution, where he had 
spent some dozen or more very happy years. To him M. 
Tessier confided these difficulties, and he besought the 
superior-general to come in person to Baltimore in order 
to regulate matters. This was in the year 1828 when, im- 
der Charles X, things were shaping themselves in France 
for the July Revolution of 1830. IJnder the circumstances, 
M. Gamier could not think of leaving Paris, but he felt 
that M. Tessier's request should not be entirely ignored. 
He therefore sent a representative in the person of M. Car- 
riere, who arrived in Baltimore in 1829, and immediately 
set about investigating the condition of the Sulpician Soci-^ 
ety in the United States. This enabled M. Tessier to trans- 
fer his office into the hands of the visitor. When, on Octo- 



90 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

ber 4, 1829, the first Provincial Council of Baltimore was 
opened, M. Tessier was one of its most prominent members, 
not as superior of St. Mary's, but as its dean. 

As such the burden of his work as superior was taken 
from his shoulders, and we find him thereafter fre- 
quently accompanying Archbishop Whitfield on his visi- 
tations. In fact, as the archbishop's vicar-general, he took 
part in the Synod of Baltimore (1831), where he was one 
of the prominent orators, and accompanied the prelate 
in his visitation of Richmond. When his duties as vicar- 
general did not call him away from Baltimore, he resided 
at the seminary as before and continued his pastoral work 
in connection with the seminary chapel. He was a popu- 
lar confessor and spiritual director; tradition has it that 
he had more than two hundred regular penitents, many of 
them colored, whom he had served for more than thirty- 
one years. Thus after his retirement he led an active and 
useful life at his old home, popular both inside and out- 
side of the seminary. 

On March 16', 1840, M. Tessier was seized by a fever, 
which forbade his saying his Mass. The following day, 
St. Patrick's feast. Father Deluol, who had attended him 
from the beginning of his illness, found his condition 
much worse. Two days later, on St. Joseph's day, he 
peacefully passed away, after receiving all the consola- 
tions of religion at the hands of Father Deluol. The 
mourning in the seminary, the college, and in fact in the 
entire city, was general, and the funeral ceremonies were 
most solemn. Archbishop Eccleston sang the Requiem, 
and Father Deluol in his funeral oration proclaimed 
the many virtues of the departed Sulpician and the serv- 
ices he had rendered to St. Sulpice, to the archdiocese, 
and to the Church. 



Chapter V 

St. Mary's College, 1806-1830 

The gentlemen sent to Baltimore by M. Emery in 1791 
were, in accordance with the primary aim of the Society 
of St. Sulpice, intended to found and direct a clerical 
seminary. On their arrival at Baltimore they supplied 
the personnel needed for such a seminary, the buildings, 
and the outfit, but they could not provide the students. 
Accordingly, the Sulpicians who came to the United States 
in 1792 were subsequently, with M. Emery's con- 
sent, sent to work on the American missions both east 
and west. In fact, M. Emery had no choice, for these 
were the days of the bloody Terror. Eighteen men of 
his small Society had been guillotined or otherwise put to 
death. Belgium and Western Germany were threatened 
with invasion by the sans culottes; Spain was swarming 
with exiled French priests and the hospitality of Eng- 
land, a Protestant country, was utilized to the utmost. 
The United States afforded a vast field for clerical work. 
But only a few men could be of use for the purpose of 
ecclesiastical education. Priests were needed, but candi- 
dates were lacking. Bishop Carroll had established 
Georgetown College in 1789, partly with a view to supply- 
ing candidates for the ministry. But the Catholics of 
the United States were few and, therefore, but few stu- 
dents could be expected at Georgetown and very few semi- 
nary students could be looked for from that college. In- 
deed, the pressing need of instructors at Georgetown ab- 
sorbed those of its graduates who had clerical aspirations. 

91 



V2 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

If Georgetown could furnish no clerical students, 
where were they to come from? The position was such 
as necessarily to suggest self-help to the Sulpicians. They 
must provide their own students by providing the pre- 
paratory institutions of higher education. These might 
be of two kinds: either such as trained only aspirants 
to the priesthood, that is to say, lower seminaries, or 
such as gave higher education in general. Students 
of the former kind are usually supported by the dioce- 
san authorities, while students of the latter sort support 
or at least contribute to the support of their col- 
leges or academies. In 1791, and as we shall see for a 
long time after, neither the bishop nor the Sulpicians had 
the pecuniary means to support a lower seminary. There 
were no endowments extant nor any to be expected. The 
few American Catholics were not overburdened with 
wealth and there were endless appeals to them to pro- 
vide for their most pressing spiritual needs. If the Sul- 
picians were to make an effort to supply the students for 
their seminary it must be by creating self-supporting in- 
stitutions, that is to say, colleges or academies whose stu- 
dents paid for their own tuition. This meant that the 
colleges must be open not only to future students of the- 
ology, but to students who sought higher education for 
any purpose. To have any seminary at all, the majority 
of the Sulpicians in Baltimore saw before long that they 
must establish general colleges or academies. To refuse 
to do so would be to pour out the baby with the bath. 
Only reluctantly did they open their eyes to this necessity. 
If the Sulpicians hesitated on principle to open colleges. 
Bishop Carroll, on grounds of expediency, did not favor 
their doing so. His Georgetown College was as yet a fee^ 
ble infant, and its supply of food was not too plentiful. 
Any further colleges would threaten to deprive it of some 
of its needed nourishment, so both the bishop and the Sul- 



ST. maby's college, 1805-1830 93 

picians, especially M. Emery, shrank from making more 
foundations. But necessity knows no law. The students 
of St. Mary's, few from the beginning, grew less and less, 
and the seminary which was expected to supply a nation 
with priests consisted of empty halls. The Sulpicians 
at first made timid experiments. Only a year or two 
after their arrival at Baltimore, when they had overcome 
to some extent their ignorance of the English language, 
they gathered about them some boys living in the neigh- 
borhood of the seminary and began to instruct them in the 
rudiments of academic learning, but it soon became ap- 
parent that without a systematic plan nothing could be 
achieved. 

MM. Flaget and Richard tried what could be done 
among the French in the Middle West. Failure was the 
result. About 1796 or 1797 circumstances suggested the 
possibility of employing the surplus of the French Sul- 
picians in another part of America. These hopes were 
held out from the island of Cuba, whither a member of 
the Society, M. Babad, had found his way from Spain, 
having become convinced that that country offered no 
hope of useful activity to the exiled members of his So- 
ciety. At Havana things looked smiling and bright. He 
was warmly received by many of the prominent colonial 
families, who stood ready to entrust their children to him 
and his confreres. 

Accordingly he wrote of his prospects to M. IsTagot and 
invited him to send to Havana some of the members of 
St. Sulpice who could be spared from the United States. 
At the time, M. ISTagot foresaw that M. Dubourg and 
M. Flaget, the former of whom had been president of 
Georgetown since 1796, and the latter vice-president, 
would be open for other work in 1798. Accordingly he 
communicated to them the news of M. Babad's plans at 
Havana and left them free to go to Cuba on a reconnois- 



94 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

sance. Both men were ready to join M. Babad in Cuba 
and examine the prospects. 

We must here make our readers acquainted with the 
Rev. M. Dubourg, who was the founder of St. Mary's 
College. Louis William Valentine Dubourg was bom at 
Cap Frangois in the island of San Domingo in 1766. 
When he grew up he was sent to Prance for his education, 
and having determined to devote himself to the service 
of the Church, he entered the lower seminary connected 
with St. Sulpice. After his ordination, he was, by M. 
iN'agot's advice, placed in charge of the classical school at 
Issy. There during the early days of the French Revo- 
lution his life was threatened and he fled to Spain. But 
as in the case of M. Babad, Spain soon proved an un- 
congenial place of refuge. Accordingly, M. Dubourg 
turned his eyes westward, and in 1794 reached the United 
States as a secular priest. He was received with open 
arms, not only by Bishop Carroll, but also by his French 
fellow-exiles, the Sulpicians of St. Mary's. He naturally 
felt himself drawn toward them, and in 1795 M. l^agot re- 
ceived him into the Society of St. Sulpice. M. Dubourg 
from the first made a most favorable impression on Bishop 
Carroll, so that only two years after his arrival in Balti- 
more the bishop confided to him the presidency of his 
favorite institution, the College of Georgetown, where M. 
Flaget, later first Bishop of Bardstown, Ky., was his 
lieutenant as vice-president. 

M. Dubourg was an attractive personality. His man- 
ners were most sympathetic. He was a gifted orator and 
a good scholar, and during his administration of George- 
town College there was a marked increase in the number 
of students. But for reasons unknown to us he was with- 
drawn from Georgetown in 1798, and then it was that, in 
accordance with M. Nagot's suggestions, he resolved with 
M. Flaget to make an attempt to establish a college at 



ST. maey's college, 1805-1830 95 

Havana. The prospects seemed bright, but suddenly the 
sky became overclouded. The Sulpicians were French- 
men, and the Spanish Government, which habitually ex- 
cluded even native Cubans from any places of trust in the 
island, refused to permit the French priests to found a 
college in Havana. M. Dubourg, therefore, prepared to 
return to Baltimore, but not before he had arranged, both 
in Havana and in Baltimore, to take with him to the lat- 
ter place a number of the Cuban youth who were to have 
become students of the Sulpician College in Havana. 

Without delay, therefore, in 179 9, M. Dubourg re- 
turned to the United States with his charges and opened 
his school with four students, this number being soon in- 
creased by the children of San Domingo exiles. M. Flaget 
was then struggling with an attack of yellow fever and had 
to be left behind. In fact, he did not return to Baltimore 
until 1801, when he brought with him three young Cubans, 
who became students of the new Baltimore academy. 
The boys brought to Baltimore by M. Dubourg were 
lodged in St. Mary's Seminary, which afforded abundant 
room for them. 

Their arrival did not wholly please Bishop Carroll. 
^Notwithstanding the more promising aspect of the future 
of Georgetown College, it was still a very weak plant. 
What would be its fate if the Sulpicians established a 
rival college at Baltimore? Experience could not en- 
lighten him as to the answer, and the good bishop was not 
a little alarmed. However, the Sulpicians had been at 
considerable expense in fetching and housing the Cubans. 
They had lost the property at first assigned to them at 
Bohemia, and invested the greatest part of their French 
savings in the Baltimore property. Manifestly they must 
be treated with consideration and fairness. So the prel- 
ate agreed to the temporary establishment of the new 
academy. It was made a condition, however, that no 



96 THE SULPICIANS IN" THE UNITED STATES 

American students should be admitted, and that even the 
number of West Indians should be limited. According 
to the "Memorial Volume" of St. Mary's, Bishop Carroll 
at first allowed only twelve students to be admitted to the 
academy, but later extended this number to twenty-five. 

This arrangement proved satisfactory for the time be- 
ing. A goodly number of boys came in from the West In- 
dies. M. Flaget, in 1801, brought back three from Cuba, 
and others came both before and after. If we may 
trust the biographer of Bishop Flaget in "Appleton's Bio- 
graphical Dictionary," who declares that the Balti- 
more academy was crowded with West Indians, the num- 
ber of scholars at the academy must have been quite 
large. We may infer this also from the fact that when 
the Spanish Government in 1803 required the return of 
the students to Havana, it was necessary to send a man- 
of-war for them. The same conclusion follows from the 
fact that many years afterward, in 1812 and in 1817, 
when the college was in financial difficulties, M. Harent 
was sent to the West Indies and collected rather a large 
amount of money due the Baltimore Sulpicians for un- 
paid fees. 

Meantime, the existence of the budding academy was 
threatened from another quarter. M. Emery, as appears 
from his letter of August 9, 1800 (Gosselin, vol. ii, p. 
102), in view of the bishop's objections to the establish- 
ment of the Baltimore academy, withdrew whatever con- 
sent he had given to its foundation. At the same time 
he seems to have regarded the bishop's opposition to a 
Sulpician academy as a bar to any plan of self-help on 
the part of his Society, and therefore as a kind of sen- 
tence of death to the seminary itself. Affairs had taken 
a turn favorable to the Church in France, and M. Emery 
foresaw that he could usefully employ in the mother coun- 
try all the men of his Society. In 1801, therefore, we 



ST. maey's college, 1805-1830 97 

find him issuing a recall to the American Sulpicians, 
against which the bishop remonstrated most earnestly. 
The correspondence between Bishop Carroll and M. Emery 
grew warmer and warmer, while the position in Baltimore 
became more and more unpleasant. Buildings had been 
put up for the academy by M. Dubourg, his Cuban pro- 
teges having been quartered in the seminary building, and 
additional accommodation of a temporary character pro- 
vided on the seminary grounds. But M. Dubourg was 
not a man content with half measures. He had excellent 
taste, and the new edifice was spoken of with admiration, 
though on the other side there were not lacking persons 
who criticized his lavishness. M. Emery seems to have 
shared the views of these critics, while Bishop Carroll re- 
garded M. Dubourg's tendency to couple the ornamental 
with the useful as a constitutional and quite pardonable 
foible. 

When these new buildings were completed, at con- 
siderable expense, it was announced that the academy was 
about to lose all, or a greater part, of its students. The 
Spanish Government had ordered the West Indian boys 
to leave Baltimore without delay. This was in 1803. 
But the darkest hour of the night is that immediately 
preceding the dawn. So it proved in this case. We have 
seen how M. Emery accepted the advice of Pope Pius VII 
and abandoned all thought of withdrawing his Society 
from the United States. About the same time Bishop 
Carroll agreed to open the Sulpician academy to American 
students. "In the fall of 1803," says the "Memorial Vol- 
ume," "it was announced that the doors of St. Mary's 
College would be open to all American students, day schol- 
ars or boarders, without distinction of creed. Many boys 
at once flocked to the institution. . . . The number of 
pupils in 1806 amounted to one hundred and six. Addi- 



98 THE SULPICIANS IIST THE UNITED STATES 

tional buildings had then been erected and others were 
in progress." 

But this was not all. Owing to the manifest merits of 
the Sulpician academy, it had gained for itself not only 
the hearts of the Baltimoreans and Marylanders, both 
Catholic and Protestant ; it had likewise gained the favor 
of the governor and Legislature of the State. 

It seems proper here to glance at the condition of higher 
education in Maryland at the beginning of the nineteenth 
century in order to realize the position of the new Sul- 
pician college among its fellow-institutions. This will 
enable us also to appreciate the advantages and disad- 
vantages with which it had to contend and the causes of 
its rapid progress. In drawing this picture, we shall take 
as our guide Dr. Bernard C. Steiner's "History of Edu- 
cation in Maryland," published by the United States Bu- 
reau of Education in 1894. The chapters from which 
we shall draw chiefly were written by Basil Sellers. 

The physical configuration of the State of Maryland 
did not favor the spread of learning in colonial times. 
The land is too much cut up by hills and streams, and 
the population was too thin and sparse to make it possible 
to find sites fit to be centers of school activity. Even dis- 
trict schools for elementary education were hardly feasi- 
ble, for a district containing enough children to warrant 
the opening of a common school assumed the proportions 
of a county. In fact, many of the more prosperous col- 
onists kept tutors or governors for their children, while 
the less fortunate but more zealous taught their children 
themselves. 

The General Assembly of the State early made efforts to 
establish county schools, but these efforts frequently re- 
sulted in paper institutions of quite formidable propor- 
tions. While little is said of elementary learning, the 
learning called for was usually instruction in moral phi- 



ST. maey's college, 1805-1830 99 

losophy, the learned languages, and mathematics, the lat- 
ter being generally entrusted to the writing-teacher. This 
description fits most of the county schools which were 
created by acts of the Assembly prior to the War of In- 
dependence. Even at the end of the war, which left the 
State coffers empty and the people's means slim, there was 
no immediate change for the better. The Assembly was 
busy in grinding out educational laws. Unfortunately 
it was kept so busy that it is quite apparent that as these 
laws did not execute themselves, they died a natural death 
and each Assembly had to repeat the benevolent legisla- 
tion of its predecessor. 

However, from all the medley of educational legislation 
it appears that two institutions soon outstripped their 
rivals and acquired considerable distinction. The first of 
these was Washington College, located at Chestertown, on 
the eastern shore of Maryland. It was the creation of the 
Rev. Dr. William Smith, who came to Chestertown in 
1780, formed a class and combined it with the Kent 
County School in 1782. The resulting institution had 
one hundred and forty scholars. It was by resolution 
of the Assembly duly created a college. Its faculty con- 
sisted of a president, a vice-president, and professors of 
natural philosophy and logic. Besides these three men 
of learning, whose names are given, two tutors and a 
French teacher are spoken of. The name of only one of 
these can be found; he had been the principal of the 
Kent County School. 

The laurels gained by Washington College on the east- 
em shore, made a great impression on the people of the 
western shore. These felt them as a challenge, which was 
duly accepted. In 1784, the Annapolis School, an insti- 
tution similar to the Kent County School, was duly erected 
by law into St. John's College. It seems not to have been 
organized until 1789. But this did not prevent the Mary- 



100 THE SULPICIANS IIT THE UNITED STATES 

land Assembly of 1785 from combining St. John's Col- 
lege and Washington College into the first University of 
Maryland. When St. John's was organized, on August 
11, 1789, its board of visitors and governors, presided 
over by Bishop Carroll, elected Dr. John McDowell pro- 
fessor of mathematics and the Kev. Ealph Higginbotham 
professor of languages. The former became principal 
immediately after the formal opening of the college, on 
November 11, 1789, on which occasion Charles Carroll of 
CarroUton, who was one of the visitors and governors, 
was present. 

Washington College always remained a modest insti- 
tution of learning. The number of its students did not 
grow markedly. Ten years after its foundation the Due 
de la Rochefoucauld Liancourt writes of St. John's : "The 
college is another very considerable building. It has an 
endowment of $5,000, raised by certain duties of the 
State, such as licenses, fines, etc., but of the west part of 
Maryland only. There are a hundred scholars there, and 
it is said that the masters of it are very good. The Eng- 
lish, the learned languages, French, mathematics as far as 
astronomy, some philosophy, and some common law are 
taught there." 

Of Washington College at the same time (1796), the 
same Due de la Eochef oucauld Liancourt says : ^ "The 
college building is in a deplorable state of decay, although 
it is not yet finished. There is no glass in any of the win- 
dows ; the walls have fallen down in many places and the 
doors are without steps. Yet this is the second college 
of the State, in which there are only two. It maintains 
a president and three masters; the number of scholars, 
however, is not more than forty or fifty, though for $16 
all the branches of learning which are taught may be ac- 
quired. Boarders pay $80 or $90 for their board. Twelve 

1 "Travels through North America," second edition, vol. iii, pp. 548-550, 
as reported in Steiner's "History of Education in Maryland." 



ST. maey's college, 1805-1830 101 

or fifteen hundred dollars have already been expended 
upon this building. It is constructed on a plan large 
enough to receive &ve hundred students. The clergy- 
man of the place received $300 from his parish and $800 
and a residence as president of the college." 

Washington and St. John's colleges maintained a more 
or less precarious existence as the first University of 
Maryland until 1805. Their halls were never crowded. 
But St. John's College at least included among its grad- 
uates and its students a number of men who became dis- 
tinguished in the history of the State and even of the 
Union. Both colleges, as the Due de la Kochefoucauld 
states, received at times subsidies from the Maryland As- 
sembly, but these subsidies were mere trifles when com- 
pared with the costs of a modem college. The University 
of Maryland dragged on its nominal existence until 1805, 
when the Legislature "caused the suspension of St. John's 
College by withdrawing the State grant. This caused 
the death of the old university, and in 1812, though the 
old charter had never been repealed, the old institution 
was so thoroughly extinct that the Legislature chartered 
a new University of Maryland." ^ 

At the time, therefore, when the Maryland Assembly 
created St. Mary's College in 1806, it was the only active 
collegiate institution in the St^te. What was the nature 
and activity of the contemporary colleges in Maryland 
appears sufficiently from the scanty account we have given 
of them. Indeed, the records which modem investigators 
have been able to find are very imperfect. That the or- 
ganization of the Maryland colleges was very simple can 
hardly be questioned. The curriculum usually included 
some Latin and Greek, some algebra and geometry, with 
lectures on ethical and sometimes religious subjects. That 
the very simplicity was in some respects an advantage ap- 

1 Steiner, "History of Education in Maryland," p. 70. 



102 THE SULPICIANS I3S" THE "UNITED STATES 

pears from the distinction gained by so many of their 
alumni. 'No doubt, a few of the larger l^ew England 
colleges may have been in a more developed condition 
than the Maryland institutions. But it is hardly rash to 
assume that these, as they claimed, were the peers of many 
of the American colleges. Our picture of these institu- 
tions, imperfect though it be, reveals enough of the con- 
ditions of higher education to enable the reader to form 
a just estimate of the work of St. Mary's College, to 
which we now return. 

When in 1803 the doors of the Sulpician academy of 
Baltimore were thrown open to American students, it 
was expressly stated that there would be no distinction 
of creed. The perusal of M. Emery's correspondence con- 
vinces us that this policy was by no means in harmony 
with his idea of a Sulpician institution, the project of 
an academy being sufficiently at variance with his ideals, 
but his home was thousands of miles from Baltimore, 
and he had not the means of judging what was required 
by the situation. 

However, the circumstances at Baltimore were such that 
if the Sulpicians were to have a college at Baltimore at 
all, it must admit non-Catholic students. Baltimore was 
then a small town, whose charter was only ten years old. 
In 1800 the entire number of its inhabitants was 26,000. 
The number of Catholics able to pay for the collegiate edu- 
cation of their children was very small. In those days, 
it is true, professors were cheap, and $800 secured the 
services of a college president, and the college students 
paid only $16 a year, or with board $80. The alternative 
was, either admit non-Catholic students, or have no col- 
lege at all. 

Besides, the Catholics would prefer to send their boys 
to a Catholic college where Protestant boys were tolerated, 
for Catholics had been treated with no little consideration 



ST. mart's college, 1805-1830 103 

when St. John's College was founded, which was, of 
course, on paper, several years before the establishment of 
Georgetown College. Bishop Carroll was not only a trus- 
tee of the secular college, but at one time chairman of 
the Board of Trustees, on which board we find the names 
of Nicholas Carroll, and of the signer of the Declaration 
of Independence, Charles Carroll of Carrollton. Though 
the feeling of universal toleration was neither as general 
nor as strong as it is to-day, the philosophic and basic prin- 
ciples of Catholics and of other Christian denominations 
more nearly approached each other than they do at the 
present time. This can be proved in a striking way from 
the first commencement program of Washington College, 
held Wednesday, May 14, 1783: 

"Dr. Smith opened the exercises of the day with prayer, 
afterward with a Latin oration to the learned and collegi- 
ate part of the audience, as custom seems to have required. 
The candidates then proceeded with the public exercises, as 
follows: (1) A Latin salutatory oration by Mr. John 
Scott. (2) An oration in French by Mr. James Scott. 
(3) A Latin syllogistic dispute: 'Num cetemitas pmnarum 
contradicit divinis attrihutisf Respondent, Mr. Charles 
Smith; opponents, Messrs. William Barrel and William 
Bordley. (4) An English forensic dispute: 'Whether 
the state of nature be a state of war V The speakers were 
Messrs. John Scott, William Barrel, William Bordley and 
James Scott. (5) Degrees were conferred as follows: 
IJpon Messrs. Charles Smith, James Scott, John Scott, 
William Bordley, and William Barrel, the degrees of 
bachelor of arts ; and upon Samuel Kerr, one of the tutors; 
in the grammar school, honorary A.B., and upon Mr. CoHd 
Ferguson and Mr. Samuel Armor, professors in the col- 
lege, the honorary degree of A.M. (Mr. Armor was al- 
ready an A.M. of the College of Philadelphia). (6) An 



104 THE SULPICIAIS'S IN THE UNITED STATES 

English valedictory oration/ which concluded with a strik- 
ing and prophetic poem on the progresses of the sciences 
and the growing glory of America, by Mr. Charles Smith. 
(7) The principal closed the exercises with a pathetic 
charge to the graduates respecting their future conduct in 
life, and what was expected of them as the eldest sons of 
this rising seminary." ^ 

From all this it follows that when M. Dubourg, with the 
consent of MM. !N"agot and Emery, embarked on the 
scheme of founding an academy at Baltimore to be opened 
not only to future priests but to Catholic and Protestant 
students generally, he did so because he had no other 
choice. They must make the venture or withdraw from 
the educational field altogether. M. Dubourg set to work 
with skill and vigor. His success proves that he had the 
loyal support of Bishop Carroll, and that the Catholics 
of Maryland had great influence with both the governor 
and the Legislature. St. Mary's College in 1805 received 
its charter endowing it with all the rights and privileges 
belonging to similar institutions in the United States or 
in foreign countries. 

E'ot satisfied with this, the General Assembly in 1806* 
granted to the newly chartered college the privilege of 
holding a state lottery, the proceeds of which, not to ex- 
ceed $40,000, were to be expended for the benefit of the 
new college. It was enacted at the same time that the 
trustees of St. Mary's College were to guarantee its main- 
tenance for at least thirty years. This clause, at first 
sight somewhat mysterious, appears natural enough when 
we bear in mind that the first Maryland University had 
existed less than twenty years. It should likewise be 
remarked that the raising of monies by state lotteries was 

iThis oration was printed in full in the "Maryland Journal" for July 
8, 1783. 
2 Steiner, "History of Education in Maryland," p. 77. 



ST. maey's college, 1805-1830 105 

not an uncommon expedient at this time in Maryland. -"^ 
The records we possess of the beginnings of St. Mary's 
College are naturally somewhat scanty, but they are nev- 
ertheless well worth studying. Let us bear in mind that 
prior to 1805 it existed as a mere academy and chiefly as 
an academy for West Indian boys. The number of stu- 
dents was limited to a dozen or at most twenty-five. To 
teach this little flock, besides the president, M. Dubourg, 
occupied the time and the efforts of three priests and one 
layman, and the priests were all men of distinction. They 
included, besides the future Bishop of !N'ew Orleans, Du- 
bourg, the future Bishop of Bardstown, Flaget, the fu- 
ture head of the seminary, M. Tessier, and M. Babad, 
who for twenty years or more taught Spanish and was, 
so to say, the patron of the Spanish- American boys. The 
laymen, MM. Guillemin and Ayme, who taught each for 
one year only, were Frenchmen, as were all the Sulpi- 
cians, which makes it likely that a large percentage of the 
students were French West Indians. This is confirmed 
by the names of the students which have been preserved, 
such as Dubourg, Paget, La Beintrie, Meynadier, Le 
Batard, Cottineau, De Mun, Basile, and so forth. ^ 

The year 1803 brings us a new order of things. Such 
names as O'Brian, Lipp, Clark, Wilson, Bums, Brent, 
and Digges indicate that the academy was no longer an 
exclusively West Indian institution, but had become 
strongly Americanized, the students coming not only from 
Baltimore and Maryland, but also from Pennsylvania, 
Washington, and Ireland. Some of the names also suggest 
that their bearers were probably non-Catholic. If we 

^1807. Lottery of $40,000 for the Medical College. (Steiner, "History 
of Education in Maryland," p. 119.) 

1817, June. Rev. Mr. Cooper authorized to arrange a lottery to raise 
$30,000 for Washington CoUege. (Steiner, "History of Education in 
Maryland," p. 84.) 

1821. The Legislature allowed St. John's College to raise $80,000 by lot- 
tery. $20,000 was realized and Invested as a College fund. (Steiner, 
"History of Education in Maryland," p. 96.) 

2 In 1802 MM. Paquiet and de Chevigne were a valuable addition to the 
teaching staff. 



106 THE SULPICIANS IIT THE UNITED STATES 

call to mind that three or four teachers were the usual 
allotment of the Maryland county schools, the number of 
instructors at the Sulpician academy, which from the 
start numbered four or five, for from twelve to twenty- 
five boys, proves that the pupils were not neglected, so far 
as their instructors went, and their subsequent careers 
convince us that these instructors were men not only of 
merit but of distinction. 

These facts must have become generally known, for in 
1806, three years after St. Mary's was opened to Ameri- 
can students, and had been raised to the dignity of a uni- 
versity, the number of students had risen to one hundred 
and six and the number of instructors to ten. Of these, 
six were laymen and four priests, all Sulpicians except 
one, the Eev. M. Paquiet. The latter, however, was 
deeply interested in the welfare of the new college, for he 
remained there for many years, and in 1812 became its 
president, a position which he filled for three years. M. 
Paquiet felt himself thoroughly at home among the gen- 
tlemen of St. Sulpice and soon acquired a reputation in 
Baltimore for his merits as a scientist. Another instruc- 
tor, whose reputation as a mathematician secured many 
friends and scholars for the college, was M. de Chevigne, 
who was a member of the college faculty from 1802 to 
1825. He had been a sea captain, but had not found his 
true vocation until he became professor of mathematics 
at St. Mary's College. He evidently felt himself thor- 
oughly at home in his new sphere, and he evinced his loyal 
attachment to his Sulpician colleagues by making them 
the heirs of all he possessed at his death. 

A further study of the records of St. Mary's College as 
laid down in the "Memorial Volume of St. Mary's Semi- 
nary," informs us that as long as M. Dubourg remained 
at its head, that is to say, until 1812, the college continued 
to grow both in the number of its professors and in that 



ST. maey's college, 1805-1830 107 

of its students. Of the former there were now twelve, 
but we can not give the exact number of the students. 
The proportion of laymen in the faculty continues about 
the same, that is to say, about half of the faculty consisted 
of clergymen and half of laymen. As the number of 
American students increased, we notice that the faculty 
acquires professors with English surnames, such as Mul- 
len, Graham, Woods, Sinnot, and Fenwick. Evidently 
these gentlemen taught the English literary subjects, 
while the classics and mathematics remained in the hands 
of the French instructors. M. Babad, we are informed, 
taught Spanish from the very inception of the academy 
until 1820. As M. Babad was not the only Spanish 
teacher at the college we must infer that among its stu- 
dents there must still have been a fair percentage of 
Spaniards, and that the Spanish language was a desidera- 
tum among the patrons of St. Mary's. 

At all events, a comparison with the history of other 
colleges proves without doubt that St. Mary's College was 
in advance of most of them, so far as the teaching of mod- 
em languages goes.^ Indeed, its courses seem to have been 
both thorough and broad, if we judge by an account of 
the curriculum taken from a Baltimore newspaper of 
September, 1818. An analysis of this document shows 
that the class hours at St. Mary's at the time covered six 
and a haK hours daily, the college sessions lasting from 
the first Monday in September to the middle of July. A 
modem grammar school or college proposing such a pro- 

1 It will be of interest to note that as early as 1814 there was a clamor 
in the United States for college education without Latin or Greek. An 
advertisement published in a Baltimore paper in 1814 gives the views of 
the authorities of St. Mary's College on this topic at that early date : "It 
has hitherto been a regulation of the college that no student should be 
admitted but upon the condition of learning Latin. The president and the 
directors are determined to maintain and promote, as much as is in their 
power, the study of that language, as the basis of a literary education. 
However, they daily receive so many applications for pupils who want to 
be dispensed with the aforesaid rule, that they will admit students to fol- 
low at their choice English. French and Spanish, geography and the use 
of globes, practical arithmetic, mathematics in their branches, and natural 
philosophy." (August 1, 1814.) 



108 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

gram to its students would hardly escape a strike, espe- 
cially in view of the fact that the boys of a hundred years 
ago had to sit in class six and a haK hours a day, whereas 
at the present time four to four and a haK hours are 
prescribed as the maximum. This time was apportioned 
to the several studies very differently from the modem 
distribution. Colleges of those days knew nothing of 
sociology, economics, and political science, sciences ap- 
parently so called on the lucus a non lucendo principle. 
Even history is missing from the curriculum and moral 
philosophy is the only philosophical study mentioned. 

On the other hand, the program demands a great deal 
of solid, hard work. An hour and a half a day is given 
to mathematics, an hour and a haK to Latin, an hour 
and a haK to English, modem languages, science, and 
Greek, and the rest of the time to various other subjects, 
including higher mathematics, natural philosophy, rhet- 
oric, geography, and the use of the globes. Even writing, 
drawing, music, and dancing are provided for. Some 
time during the day an hour or so was devoted to study 
in a large hall especially assigned for the purpose. The 
Latin course seems to have embraced six years, an hour 
and a haK a day; the Greek three. The students seem 
to have acquired a competent knowledge of the former 
language, for they not only delivered Latin discourses 
at their commencements, but some of them are mentioned 
as the writers of occasional Latin verse. 

Though the gentlemen of St. Sulpice were for the most 
part natives of France, they were too good pedagogues to 
neglect the study of English. Several of the professors 
at St. Mary's, between 1810 and 1830, are mentioned 
as capable instructors in English literature, for instance, 
Messrs. Doyle, Hickey, and Sinnot. At this time it may 
not be useless to remind our readers that the study of 
English literature did not form a prominent feature in 



ST. maey's college, 1805-1830 109 

the programs of most American colleges, and St. Mary's 
is probably in tbis respect rather in advance of the usual 
American college curriculum. 

In American colleges much importance has been at- 
tached to the yearly commencement exercises. Indeed, it 
may be said that in some respects they have been quite 
characteristic of the spirit and aims of American academic 
institutions. Fortunately, we possess the programs of 
some of these exercises at St. Mary's during the second 
decade of the nineteenth century. They differ greatly 
from the proceedings now in vogue, especially at the more 
ambitious colleges, where commencements are gradually 
being reduced to the awards of degrees and honors. A 
hundred years ago, several days were sometimes devoted 
to the strict collegiate exercises, without taking into con- 
sideration the reunions of students and graduates and 
their societies. At St. Mary's College in the year 1816, 
the commencement exercises were of a very varied char- 
acter. We copy from a contemporary newspaper account : 

"On the 16th instant (1816) the usual experiments of 
natural philosophy took place at St. Mary's College. 
Some fireworks practiced with the inflammable gases had 
a brilliant effect; a small balloon of hydrogen gas was 
launched and soon disappeared, taking its course to the 
north. A larger one took fire. In the afternoon the fol- 
lowing orations were delivered: On the Advantages of 
Natural Philosophy, by WiUiam de St. Martin; On the 
Fine Arts, by Thomas Middleton; On Eloquence (in 
Latin), by Robert Ross; On Chivalry, by Enoch Magru- 
der ; On Astronomy, by Charles de Chapotin of Savannah. 
Afterward the degrees of A.B. were conferred on the 
above gentlemen and the degree of A.M. on Jasper Y. 
Smith, Edward Coleman, W. Howard, F. J. Didier, 
James Mosher. On the following afternoon two dia- 



110 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

logues were spoken: 1st. Moderation in our pursuits. 
2nd. Inconveniences of a Spirit of Mockery. Then Colo- 
nel Howard delivered the premiums." 

Of the commencement in 1813, we find the following 
account : 

"In presence of a numerous assembly, the following 
gentlemen delivered orations: Mr. Ebenezer Jackson of 
Savannah on The Influence of Governments on Litera- 
ture; Mr. Woodrop Sims of Philadelphia on The Advan- 
tages of Society; Mr. H. M. Byrne of Pennsylvania on 
Moral Philosophy; Mr. Charles Carroll of Hagerstown 
on Traveling; Mr. William Kemper Sitgraves of Phila- 
delphia on Painting and the Pine Arts ; Mr. W. H. Brent 
Sewall of Prince George on Patriotism. The degree of 
A.B. was then conferred on them and the exercise was 
concluded with an address and prayer by the president." 

We may add that other reports show that it was a regu- 
lar custom to give one day to a species of public exami- 
nation, in which special stress was laid on science and 
scientific experiments. We can readily conceive that 
at the time when science was mostly confined to the lab- 
oratory and when the application of physics and chemis- 
try was not to be found in every highway and byway, 
ascents of hydrogen balloons must have produced no little 
sensation. Of course, the college enjoyed much scientific 
fame, and this lasted as long as it existed. MM. de 
Chevigne and Paquiet were well-known scientists in the 
beginning of the century. M. Yerot, another of St. 
Mary's scientific professors, afterward Bishop of St. Au- 
gustine, Pla., was noted as a scientist toward the mid- 
dle of the century. He corresponded with Professor 
Henry of the Smithsonian Institution and other notables 
of that period. 

An examination of the subjects of the discourses deliv- 



ST. maey's college, 1805-1830 111 

ered at these cominenceinents shows that the young Ciceros 
spoke on academic themes rather than on live political 
questions. To-day we find our colleges crowded with em- 
bryo statesmen who settle the knottiest international ques- 
tions by the most cocksure assertions. 

A hundred years ago St. Mary's Seminary did not, 
as it does at present, lie in the middle of the city, but 
formed a part of the suburbs of Baltimore. The students 
were boarders, probably even the Baltimoreans. The class 
hours extended to as late as six o'clock. The students rose 
at haK past &Ye o'clock, had morning prayer in common 
and Mass at six, followed by an hour and a half of study, 
succeeded by a recess and breakfast at a quarter past eight. 
Dinner was served at half past one o'clock and was pre- 
ceded by haK an hour's recreation. 

In those simple days few attractions tempted the boys 
to seek their amusements outside of the college grounds, 
theatrical performances being rare and opera unknown. 
!N"ot even baseball caused any infraction of college dis- 
cipline. We must not, however, underestimate the im- 
portance of the chief disciplinarian or prefect of disci- 
pline, as he was called. Men like the future Bishop 
Flaget and M. Joubert laid at St. Mary's College the ba- 
sis of their renown as disciplinarians. 

The studies extended from the beginning of September 
till past the middle of July, leaving only six weeks of 
vacation. During the vacations most of the boys went 
home. M. Tessier records their departure by the Phila- 
delphia public stage. On one occasion the dogs followed 
them probably as far as the Susquehanna, and returned 
after two days of absence. But when the boys lived at too 
great a distance, the college took care of them during vaca- 
tion also. Most of these vacation students were West In- 
dians. The way in which they spent their holidays illus- 
trates Maryland life a hundred years ago and also the rela- 



112 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

tions existing between professors and students. Thongli 
situated in the suburbs of the town, St. Mary's was not suf- 
ficiently rustic for the summer residence of the vacation 
boarders. Fortunately for the boys Pigeon Hill or Friend- 
ly Hall, the former home of M. Harent, after its consolida- 
tion with Mount St. Mary's, or Emmitsburg, in 1808, of- 
fered its hospitable doors to them. MM. Tessier and 
Deluol in their diaries have left us the story of the vacation 
joys of St. Mary's West Indian boarder students. We con- 
dense their accounts: 

On the appointed day, the boys, in charge of some of the 
instructors and Fathers, and accompanied by a variety of 
dogs and guns, took their seats in the private stages which 
were to take them to Friendly Hall, in Adams County, 
Pa. Their arrival was a gay day for the neighborhood. 
The neighboring farmers welcomed the college boys and 
showed themselves quite hospitable. Once settled down, 
the boys had a fine time, though they were not altogether 
free from the pedagogue's yoke. They rose an hour later 
than at Baltimore, breakfasted and dined longer, but had 
to study and work the greater part of the forenoon. We 
find no program for the afternoon, which means that the 
boys spent it in their own way. Their chief sport seems 
to have been hunting and their principal playmates the 
dogs. They roamed north and south from Pigeon Hill, 
accompanied by their faithful hounds, and sometimes they 
must have gone to a considerable distance. 

While gunning was the chief, it was not the only, sport. 
Fishing, of course, filled the leisure hours of the men who 
had no desire to become !Nimrods. To both fishermen and 
hunters the fruits of the country were legitimate booty. 
At times they also harnessed the horses and tended the 
cows. Of course, some of the prefects always accompanied 
the young hunters. The boys were not allowed to enter 
any houses, whether public or otherwise. They received 



ST. MAEY^S COLLEGE, 1805-1830 113 

strict instructions controlling their general behavior; 
for example, the bojs must not enter towns or go to swim- 
ming-places except when accompanied by one of their 
teachers. The gunners must not take any guns but their 
own nor lend their guns to any one else. They must not 
shoot at horses or other animals nor injure the crops by 
marching through the fields. They must carry their guns 
with care, and never, even in fun, point them at any one 
else. These jolly vacation amusements continued until 
1847, when Friendly Hall was sold. About the same time 
a summer-house was built on the grounds of St. Charles 
College, but probably the sports at the latter place could 
not be compared with the Pigeon Hill experiences. One 
thing is certain, the farmers who dwelt in the neighborhood 
of Pigeon Hill greatly enjoyed the students' visits, and 
their pranks are still spoken of in Adams County. 

Such was college life and discipline at St. Mary's Col- 
lege about a hundred years ago, and such the spirit which 
animated the institution. As in their seminaries the Sul- 
picians strove to be the equals, and as much as possible 
the brothers, of the seminarians, so at the college they 
ruled and taught in a spirit of mutual confidence and 
honhommie, a spirit, however, which never failed to im- 
press on the scholars the earnestness of their work. 

Of M. Dubourg's popularity we have already spoken, 
as well as of his good natura With these qualities he 
coupled an impressive dignity, which did not fail to lay 
stress on externals. The college buildings which he reared 
were not only solid and lasting, but in their day they were 
the handsomest academic buildings in Baltimore. In 
fact, some of his Sulpician brethren thought that they 
were too attractive, or what is more to the point, too 
expensive. M. Emery thought it necessary to clip Du- 
bourg's wings in this direction, but Bishop Carroll, prob- 
ably with an amused recollection of the old mediseval 



114 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

principle that every being acts in accordance with its na- 
ture, was of the opinion that the president of the college 
could not avoid doing what he did. 

At all events, M. Dubourg's policy impressed parents 
and attracted students and the college grew apace. When 
in 1812, in accordance with Bishop Carroll's recommenda- 
tion, the government of the new diocese of 'New Orleans 
passed into the hands of M. Dubourg, St. Mary's was out 
of its infancy. M. Paquiet, the secular priest, who suc- 
ceeded M. Dubourg, was thoroughly acquainted with the 
college and its needs. He understood the spirit of its pa- 
trons and was, moreover, a scholar of scientific tastes. 
Accordingly, the college maintained its high reputation 
and especially continued to draw many non-Catholic stu- 
dents, as will have been seen from the commencement 
programs which we have placed before our readers. 

In 1815 M. Paquiet retired and the Eev. Simon Brute, 
a Sulpician, took his place. Brute was a remarkable man, 
the details of whose biography will be given in another 
chapter. In 1815 he succeeded M. Paquiet, as head of St. 
Mary's, maintaining the spirit and policy which had so far 
characterized the institution, as we may infer from the 
commencement program for the year 1818. At all events 
the college continued to flourish under him. But in the fol- 
lowing year he was called to Mount St. Mary's, Emmits- 
burg, to become, by the side of M. Dubois, one of the 
mainstays of that institution. The headship of St. Mary's 
\ thereupon passed over to M. Damphoux, who ruled its 
fortunes for the next eleven years. 

That the condition of the college was very promising 
in 1819 can not be doubted. The number of instructors 
had risen to twenty, of whom twelve were priests and 
eight laymen. In 1829, the last year of M. Damphoux's 
administration, the college faculty maintained the same 
figures, the lay and clerical elements being fairly balanced. 



ST. maby's college, 1805-1830 115 

We may, therefore, assume that there had been no loss in 
the number of students. If we suppose that the propor- 
tion of instructors to students remained the same as in 
1806, the students must have numbered a little more than 
two hundred, which may be rather below than above the 
true figures. 

Having obtained from our imperfect sources as good a 
picture of life and work at St. Mary's College as they 
afford, it is time to turn our eyes toward the faculty and 
the students. We have already seen that the Sulpician 
college was not behind other academic institutions in 
Maryland, so far as the number of instructors is con- 
cerned. Indeed, from the beginning it could hold its own 
against contemporary Maryland institutions. 

Of the first and second presidents we have already 
spoken. They were both men of more than fair executive 
ability and M. Paquiet had, moreover, a deserved reputa- 
tion as a scientist. The third president, the Sulpician 
Simon Gabriel Brute, was not only a trained French 
scientist and a thorough theologian, but also a gentleman 
who, wherever duty placed him, showed himseK a man 
of tact and ability. Unfortunately circumstances called 
him away from St. Mary's to Emmitsburg to assist his 
friend, M. Dubois, and M. Edward Damphoux became 
president of St. Mary's. As is proved by the fact that the 
degree of Doctor of Divinity was conferred on him by 
Rome in 1824, M. Damphoux was a good scholar, and his 
remaining at the head of the college for eleven years is evi- 
dence that he was not without administrative talent. How- 
ever, during the last years of his rule at St. Mary's differ- 
ences of opinion seem to have arisen between him and some 
of his confreres. In 1827 Father Wheeler for a time took 
his place as president, but failing health led to his with- 
drawal, and M. Damphoux resumed the presidency. When 
M. Carriere came from France, in 1829, as the representa- 



116 THE SULPICIAI^S IN THE UNITED STATES 

tive of M. Gamier, the superior-general, M. Damphoux re- 
signed the presidency of St. Mary's, and left the Society 
of St. Sulpice. He was appointed rector of the Baltimore 
Cathedral, which position he filled for many years. 

Among the professors who during this period shed lus- 
ter on the faculty of St. Mary's were several men whose 
ability and vigor are guaranteed to us not only by their 
work at St. Mary's, but also by their careers as distin- 
guished prelates after their departure from its academic 
halls. MM. Deluol and Lhomme were promoted to the 
presidency of St. Mary's Seminary. We shall have oc- 
casion to speak of them hereafter. MM. Eccleston and 
Chanche were raised to the episcopacy, the former becom- 
ing the fifth Archbishop of Baltimore and the latter the 
first Bishop of !N'atchez. Archbishop Eccleston was an 
elegant Latin and English scholar and a fine speaker, 
while Dr. Chanche was a good classical scholar and an 
authority on rhetoric. Father Wheeler, who was the 
president of St. Mary's from 1827 to 1828, was a practical 
man, as appeared from the help he gave the Sisters of 
the Visitation in Washington. He proved his moral fiber 
when, in 1832, he laid down his life for his principles 
during the great cholera epidemic. Father John Larkin 
won his spurs as a professor when a Sulpician at St. 
Mary's. We must not forget the names of the Sulpicians 
J. Eandanne and E. Knight, who adorned St. Mary's 
faculty for more than twenty-six years each. The lay 
professors F. G. Foster and William T. Kelly were also 
members of the faculty for many years. Mariano Cubi y 
Soler, professor of Spanish after M. Babad's retirement, 
was the author of a Spanish grammar. 

The system of drawing the teachers for the lower classes 
from the students of the seminary continued in force dur- 
ing this period. In fact, it was even extended, and from 
the general prosperity of the institution, we may con- 



ST. maey's college, 1805-1830 117 

elude that this system had no evil consequences for the 
college. 

Even more interesting than our survey of the life and 
studies of St. Mary's and of the character and doings of 
the faculty, is a study of its students. It is regrettable 
that no contemporaneous pen has sketched for us the 
composition of this heterogeneous but characteristic gath- 
ering of young Americans. Our chief source of informa- 
tion is the list of the students in the "Memorial Volume 
of the Centenary of St. Mary's Seminary of St. Sulpice," 
published in 1891. It is a valuable historical document 
and perhaps unique of its kind.^ It offers to us much 
food for reflection and suggests many problems. It illus- 
trates the character of the population of the Southern 
States, and to some extent of Pennsylvania, during the first 
thirty years of the nineteenth century. Perhaps outside 
of Georgetown College and Mount St. Mary's, no Ameri- 
can college has so kaleidoscopic a character. But whether 
Georgetown and Mount St. Mary's ought to be classed 
with St. Mary's, Baltimore, is doubtful, for in their case 
we have no document similar to this roster of the students 
of St. Mary's. 

It is certain, however, that our modem Catholic colleges 
in the East are in many respects a contrast to old St. 
Mary's. While in the former the names are homogeneous 
and for the greater part indicate that the ancestors of 
their bearers lived in the Green Isle, St. Mary's cata- 
logue is very cosmopolitan. It is true that we rarely meet 
with a Cuban, but there is no dearth of Mexicans and 
South Americans. French names abound, some belong- 
ing to French West Indians and others to Louisianians 
and others again hailing from Baltimore itseK. We 
are struck by the frequent repetition of a Belgian name 
from the city of Brussels. It is the name of Seghers, 

^ In the list some names occur twice, and as it was compiled from frag- 
mentary documents it is not quite complete. 



118 THE SULPICIAl^S IN THE UNITED STATES 

afterward borne by tbe great Archbishop of Oregon, who 
was slain by his man attendant on the banks of the Yu- 
kon. Whether the Seghers of St. Mary's were related to 
the archbishop our catalogue does not say. We meet with 
a strong contingent of Germans, some, no doubt, direct 
importations from the Fatherland, while probably not a few 
are descendants of the old Catholic families of Pennsyl- 
vania. The !N'orth and East naturally contributed few 
students, though St. Mary's, Baltimore, was at the time 
probably the northernmost and easternmost of Catholic 
colleges. The reason is plain. There were at this time 
few Catholics in the Eastern States, and the Protestants 
were well supplied with colleges of their own. 

Being entirely or for the most part a boarding-college, 
St. Mary's students numbered but few poor scholars. We 
find among them representatives of the best known fam- 
ilies. Catholic and non-Catholic, in Maryland and the 
South. Prominent on the list are such Catholic Maryland 
names as the Carrolls, and not only the CarroUs of Car- 
rollton, but also the other branches of the family are rep- 
resented here. !N'ot less striking is the name of Jerome 
ISTapoleon Bonaparte, the first of the Patterson Bonapartes 
and son of the King of Westphalia. Whether the Henry 
Patterson, nearly contemporary with the Patterson Bona- 
parte, was a relative of his we can not determine. We 
meet with a Henry Chatard, no doubt an ancestor of the 
later Bishop of Vincennes. A Catholic college in Balti- 
more without representatives of the Jenkins family would 
have been an anomaly. Perhaps there is no more illus- 
trious Catholic name contained in the list than that of 
Alexander Gaston of E^orth Carolina, probably a relative 
of the great jurist of ^ewbem. The foremost Irishman 
in Baltimore at this time was Luke Tiernan.^ Several 

1 See Meehan, in "Records and Studies," vol. vi., pt. ii, p. 203. 



ST. maey's college, 1805-1830 119 

of Mr. Tiernan's sons received their education at St. 
Mary's. 

Young Patterson Bonaparte represented the imperial 
families of Europe. America's imperial representative 
was Angelo Iturbide, the son of Augustin, the first Itur- 
bide of Mexico, who had lost his life and his throne a year 
or two before we meet his son Angelo as a student of St. 
Mary's. Angelo's son, Augustin, was adopted by Maxi- 
milian of Mexico. We notice also the name of the 'Nen- 
ningers, who figured as lay instructors at the college al- 
most as long as it existed. Charles Boarman reminds us 
of the old Maryland Catholic Boarman family, several of 
whom were Jesuits in the olden time, and to which be- 
longed Bear-admiral Charles Boarman. Andrew Bien- 
venue Eoman, after filling divers other places of public 
trust, served two terms as Governor of Louisiana. He 
founded Jefferson College, did much to drain the neigh- 
borhood of l^ew Orleans and protect it against overflow 
and was repeatedly a member of State constitutional con- 
ventions and a strong advocate of the Union. 

Among the boys who sought their education in St. 
Mary's College in 1812 and the following years, was 
Edward Kavanagh of Damariscotta, Maine. In 1821 M. 
Tessier conferred on him the degree of M.A. with many 
complimentary words. Edward Kavanagh was destined 
to become the first Catholic governor in the !N^ew England 
States. After rendering many services to his native 
State as congressman and to the Union as Minister to 
Portugal, he became acting governor of the State in 
March, 1843. In 1831 we find that Mr. Kavanagh had 
not forgotten his alma mater, -for in M. Deluol's diary he 
records the fact that the Maine congressman dined with 
him.^ 

The Catholic students of St. Mary's, therefore, include 

* See article on Gov. Edward Kavanagh by Very Rev. Monsignor 
Charles W. Collins in "Historical Records and Studies," vol. v, p. 249 sqq. 



120 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

some very interesting names, and the same is true of the 
non-Catholic students. We do not pretend that our se- 
lection is complete, for we are not sufficiently familiar 
with all the distinguished Southern families. Let us be- 
gin with the well-known South Carolina families of the 
Pinkneys and the Rutledges, both belonging to the old 
Southern aristocracy of ante-Civil War times. The name 
of the former Governor of Maryland, Warfield, occurs as 
that of a student between 1819 and 1825, and he was not 
the only Warfield among the alumni of St. Mary's. Twice 
or three times, we observe the name of the Pennsylvania 
Quakers, EUicott, the best known representative of which 
family was the distinguished engineer and friend of Wash- 
ington and Franklin, the first to determine the height of 
iN'iagara Falls, and whose name survives in that of EUicott 
City. 

Among the students of St. Mary's from 1821 to 1823 
was Benjamin H. Latrobe, son of the architect of the na- 
tional capitol at Washington, as well as of the Baltimore 
cathedral, who was the scion of a Huguenot family which 
left France after the revocation of the Edict of E^antes. 
Benjamin H. Latrobe was the worthy son of a worthy 
father. After being admitted to the bar, he turned his 
attention to engineering, became chief engineer of the 
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, and was one of the consult- 
ing engineers on the board that approved the plans of the 
Brooklyn Bridge. 

In 1827 and 1828 and for some years afterward, Severn 
Teakle Wallis was a student at St. Mary's. He was a 
prominent figure in Maryland literature and politics until 
his death in 1894. Besides being a frequent contributor 
to contemporary periodical publications he was an ardent 
student of Spanish literature, and his reputation as a 
Spanish scholar led to his election as a corresponding 
member of the Eoyal Academy of Madrid. A similar 



ST. mart's college, 1805-1830 121 

honor came to him from the Society of I^orthem Anti- 
quaries of Copenhagen. During the stormy days in 
Maryland which preceded the Civil War, Mr. Wallis was 
one of the champions of the anti-war party, and in con- 
sequence was imprisoned for more than fourteen months. 
Being set free without trial, he returned to the prac- 
tice of the law and was honored in various ways by his 
fellow-citizens. He was named provost of the Maryland 
University in 1870, and delivered the memorial oration 
on Chief Justice Taney in 1872. Besides a life of George 
Peabody, he published several works on Spain. 

In the account of the commencement exercises of July 
16, 1816, we meet the name of Howard among the grad- 
uates. On the same occasion the premiums were distrib- 
uted by old Colonel Howard, the hero of the battle of the 
Cowpens and of many other battles in the Revolutionary 
War. He had been Governor of Maryland from 1789 to 
1792 and United States Senator 1796-1803. In short, 
the Howards were at this time one of the most prominent 
of Baltimore families, whose name is borne by a county in 
Maryland and a well-known street in Baltimore to this 
day. 

Another Protestant student borne on the rolls of St. 
Mary's College at this time was Samuel Eccleston, a na- 
tive of Kent County, Md., and a graduate of the year 
1819. During his residence at the college he became a 
Catholic and subsequently a member of the company of 
St. Sulpice. We have already mentioned him several 
times as a distinguished scholar and orator, who in 1834r 
was appointed the fifth Archbishop of Baltimore. We- 
shall have occasion hereafter to speak of his episcopal ca- 
reer, which lasted till 1851. 

The chronicle of St. Mary's College which we have 
placed before our readers sufficiently establishes the fact 
that from its very foundation until the end of M. Dam- 



122 THE StlLPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

phoux's administration, in 1829, the institution was a 
success. There may have been some financial difficulties 
at the start, but these were overcome and probably ex- 
aggerated. ISTeither the American nor much less the 
French Sulpicians at the time had any prevision of the 
rapidity of the commercial growth of the new American 
Eepublic. In this regard Bishop Dubourg seems to have 
been in advance of his time. 

From the academic point of view the merits of the col- 
lege were undoubted. Compared with the older non- 
Catholic colleges the teaching staff was more than ade- 
quate, the proportion of students to instructors being less 
in Baltimore than in the other academic institutions of 
the State. The Sulpicians were good Latin scholars and 
some of them good Hellenists. In mathematics, too, and 
the sciences then taught at colleges they had several 
able men, like Brute, Paquiet, and de Chevigne. French 
and Spanish, by force of circumstances, received unusual 
attention. We have seen that the old Sulpicians, while 
appreciating the classics at their full value, were no su- 
perstitious worshippers of Latin and Greek. 

Hand in hand with this reasonable treatment of the 
curriculum went a rational, gentlemanly system of disci- 
pline, based on an appeal to self-respect and character 
and not on spying and terrorism. Their success in satis- 
fying both their Catholic and their non-Catholic scholars 
is a proof of their fairness and justice. The Sulpicians 
were especially fortunate in the character of their pupils. 
They were not a collection of self -conceited plutocrats or 
aristocrats, for Maryland, while boasting of the respecta- 
bility of her colonists, had fostered no privileged classes 
and respected the ethical virtues more than wealth. Be- 
sides, the youth of those days, as well as^ their parents, had 
not lost the feeling that experience is the mother of wis- 
dom, and that age is the guide of youth, it not having 



ST. maey's college, 1805-1830 123 

occurred to them to regard youth as the director of old 
age. 

The Sulpicians had the respect and attachment of their 
pupils, not only Catholic but also non-Catholic, though it is 
noteworthy that the Protestant students of St. Mary's, like 
the Protestant students of Kentucky, as Father Thebaud 
tells us, rarely became converts. But their attachment to 
their old teachers was marked, and as long as St. Mary's ex- 
isted, its alumni rarely sent their children to any other col- 
lege than their alma mater. Those were not the days of 
academic advertisement, but the Sulpicians unquestionably 
profited by the best form of academic advertising, the good 
will and the praise of their former pupils. 

Such was St. Mary's College during the first half of its 
existence. It was the home of all the academic virtues. 
The favor, not only of its students and their friends, but 
indeed of all the State, Catholic and non-Catholic, prom- 
ised greater and greater prosperity. The resignation of 
M. Damphoux was not the result of any financial crisis 
nor of otherwise untoward circumstances. It was not 
even due to a feeling that it was time for Americans to 
replace the French Fathers, although as a matter of fact 
M. Damphoux's successor, M. Eccleston, was an American. 
We close our chapter here because M. Carriere's mission 
marks, in a way, the consolidation of the traditional policy 
of St. Sulpice and the beginning of a new period of pros- 
perity. 



Chapteb VI 
Other Subsidiaries of St. Mary's Seminary 

St. Mary's College, Baltimore, was the offspring of ne- 
cessity, the necessity to find students for St. Mary's semi- 
nary and candidates for the priesthood. Even many years 
before the establishment of St. Mary's College, in fact 
within a year after the arrival of the first Sulpicians, they 
had gathered together boys likely to have a call to the 
priesthood who had lived in the neighborhood of the sem- 
inary. But the effort led to no practical result. 

It was not long after the arrival of M. fagot's party 
that M. Emery was convinced that to produce fruits, the 
Baltimore seminary must have feeders. Therefore, when, 
in 1792, he sent over the second party of Sulpicians, 
among them MM. Flaget and Eichard, he instructed them 
if possible to start preparatory seminaries in the western 
missionary field allotted to them. In the same year, in 
a letter to M. !N'agot, he bids him see to it that M. Flaget 
and the other Sulpicians sent to the West turn their at- 
tention to providing seminary students for Baltimore. 
The Sulpician missionaries in the West earnestly strove 
to carry out these instructions, but the Illinois soil proved 
to be a barren recruiting ground for the Baltimore semi- 
nary. In 1795 Bishop Carroll recalled M. Flaget from 
the Illinois mission and sent him as vice-president to 
Georgetown. 

M. Eichard, who went to the West about the same time 
as M. Flaget, had no greater success, though his zeal to 
carry out M. Emery's plans was no less than M. Flaget's. 

124 



OTHER SUBSIDIABIES OF ST. MAKy's SEMINARY 125 

His activity covered not only the Illinois country, but ex- 
tended northward to Michigan, where he settled at De- 
troit, whither we shall follow him in due time. Here it 
suffices to say that his efforts to provide seminary stu- 
dents for Baltimore bore no fruit during the last decade 
of the eighteenth century. 

While the attempt to secure recruits for the seminary 
among the French population of the West proved abortive, 
M. Dubourg's attempts at Havana and later in Balti- 
more turned out equally unsatisfactory. St. Mary's Col- 
lege was a flourishing institution, it is true, but it pro- 
duced few or no vocations. Yet these repeated failures 
did not discourage M. Emery, and on M. ^agot, the vet- 
eran superior of the seminary at Baltimore, they acted 
as a stimulant. 

Among the friends of the Sulpician Fathers in Balti- 
more was a gentleman from Lyons, a Monsieur Harent. 
Like the Sulpicians, he was a refugee, expelled from the 
land of his birth by the excesses of the Revolution. He 
must have saved some of his fortune, however, for after 
his arrival at Baltimore he had enough means left to buy 
a farm in Adams County, Pa., in the midst of a Catholic 
German population. Here the gentleman from the south 
of France, who lived in Baltimore during the winter, 
spent his summers. But being an intelligent and a pious 
man, he often asked Father ISTagot to pass his vacation on 
his farm, which was called Pigeon Hill. After the re- 
establishment of order in France by l!Tapoleon, M. Harent 
felt homesick, and in 1803 he returned to France, leaving 
to Father I^agot his Pennsylvania farm. Pigeon Hill was 
a retired place, and lay in the midst of a Catholic popula- 
tion, which had preserved its faith vigorous and earnest 
under the direction of the old Maryland Jesuits. The 
sons of the German farmers were zealous and enthusiastic. 
The superior of St. Mary's naturally thought this the 



126 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

very spot for a Sulpician preparatory seminary. He 
resolved to put his hand to the plow himself, and in 1806 
began the experiment. His pupils consisted only of boys 
who felt a vocation for the priesthood. Of such candi- 
dates, he found about a dozen among the German farmers 
scattered throughout the neighborhood, to whom for two 
years the veteran professor of theology and philosophy 
undertook to teach the rudiments of Latin. M. Roloff, 
himself a German, was his assistant, and perhaps one or 
other seminarian from Baltimore also aided him. Studies 
flourished at Friendly Hall, as the new institution was 
called. ^N^evertheless, it was not destined to last, for in 
1808 M. !Nagot returned to Baltimore. Pigeon Hill had 
been given up or rather consolidated with a new institu- 
tion. Mount St. Mary's College, Emmitsburg. Of the stu- 
dents of Pigeon Hill three became priests, namely, Messrs. 
Moynahan, Schoenfelder, and Wheeler. 

Of all the collegiate institutions founded by the Sul- 
picians. Mount St. Mary's College, Emmitsburg, is the 
only one which still exists. When we say "collegiate" in- 
stitutions, we mean institutions not restricting their work 
to the education of candidates for the priesthood. Still, 
Mount St. Mary's at its origin was intended, no less than 
Pigeon Hill, or St. Mary's College, Baltimore, to b© a 
lower seminary for clerical candidates. When, about 
1805, M. Dubourg had thrown open St. Mary's College to 
American youths in general and was preparing to accept 
a university charter from the Maryland Legislature, he 
felt that he was stepping aside from the strict line of 
work for which M. Olier had founded his congregation. 
He regretted this as much as did M. l^agot or M. Emery, 
but he was obeying the dictates of necessity. At this very 
time we find him writing to his friend, M. Dubois, who 
was then the pastor of Frederick, urging and encouraging 
him to start a lower seminary in the strict sense of the 



OTHER SUBSIDIARIES OF ST. MARy's SEMINARY 127 

word on the slopes of the Blue Eidge in Western Mary- 
land. 

M. John Dubois, from 1808 a member of St. Sulpice, 
was born at Paris on August 24, 1764.^ His father, who 
left him an orphan in early youth, was a respectable bour- 
geois. He had married a woman of sterling character, 
great intelligence, and deep religious convictions. She 
was able to pay for her boy's classical education at the 
College Louis le Grand, where he was the classmate of 
two of the most notorious champions of the French Revo- 
lution, the pitiless Maximilien Robespierre, and that wild 
journalist, Camille Desmoulins. M. Dubois never forgot 
Robespierre, who was no more attractive in his youth than 
he proved to be in the days of his manhood. As a stu- 
dent young Dubois was a gifted scholar, especially in 
the classics, and a young man of determined character, 
imaginative, but restraining his imagination by love of 
truth and principle. When, early in the eighties of the 
eighteenth century, he had finished his classical studies, he 
felt a strong call to the priesthood, and entered the Sem- 
inary of St-Magloire, which was directed by the Fathers 
of the Oratory. There he was the contemporary of the 
later Cardinal Cheverus and of the celebrated Jesuit ora- 
tor. Abbe Macarthy. He was no less respected by his 
fellow-students for his solid qualities than beloved be- 
cause of his affability. 

After his ordination, on September 22, 1787, he was 
appointed chaplain of an institution for the insane and 
for orphans in the Rue de Sevres in Paris, which was in 
charge of the Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul. 
The experience he gathered here was of great value to 
him when he became the guide and adviser of Mother 
Seton, at Emmitsburg. Only a few years after his ordi- 
nation the madness of the Revolution drove him, like so 

iFor a more detailed biography, see "Historical Records and Studies," 
vol. i, pp. 278-355. 



128 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

many other French prints, to leave his country, and he 
determined to take refuge in the United States. At the 
request of his Parisian friends, La Fayette gave him 
letters of introduction to a number of eminent Virginians, 
such as Patrick Henry, James Monroe, the future Presi- 
dent, the Lees, Randolphs, and Beverleys. By these he 
was warmly welcomed when, at the age of twenty-seven, 
he arrived in Virginia in 1791. Patrick Henry even 
taught him the English language. His friendly reception 
no doubt was partly due to La Fayette's warm recom- 
mendations, but partly also to his own elegant maimers 
and attractive qualities. Even in his old age, when he 
was Bishop of 'New York, Andrew Jackson declared him 
to be the most refined gentleman he had ever met. He 
was full of life and a ready talker. For children he al- 
ways showed great sympathy. Quick of speech, quick of 
wit, quick of conception, he was also quick of temper. In 
short, he was in all respects a good representative of the 
well-bred Parisian. 

The first two years of M. Dubois' American life were 
spent in mastering the English language and in mission- 
ary excursions throughout different districts of Virginia, 
undertaken from his headquarters at Mr. Monroe's resi- 
dence. In 1795, however, Bishop Carroll entrusted him 
with the pastorship at Frederick, Md., to succeed the 
Rev. Mr. Frambach, who had become unable to fulfil his 
duties as a missionary owing to the weight of his years. 
He soon felt himself at home in every part of his parish, 
which extended from Frederick over Western Maryland 
and even beyond. A great part of his time was spent on 
horseback. He rode from county to county, from State 
to State, visiting his scattered flock and becoming the 
friend of all, especially of the children. 

In this way he became acquainted with the Catholics 
who dwelt about Emmitsburg and at the foot of the wooded 



Blue Eidge. This spot exerted a peculiar charm over him 
and he never tired of chanting its praises to his friends 
and fellow-Sulpicians, for in 1808 he was received into 
the Society of St. Sulpice, and thus in a manner devoted 
himself to the cause of education. M. Dubourg was im- 
pressed by his friend's eulogies of the beauties of the 
Mountain and the friendly spirit of the farmers who had 
settled in its neighborhood. Seeing that his own college, 
owing to the innovations of 1803 and 1806, could not 
even imperfectly realize the ideal of a Sulpician prepara- 
tory seminary, and being convinced of the necessity of 
such an institution, he urged M. Dubois to establish a 
lower seminary at Emmitsburg, writing to this effect as 
early as 1805. 

His friend did not hesitate long. With Bishop Car- 
roll's consent, he turned over to the Society of St. Sul- 
pice the property he had acquired and the houses and 
church he had built on the Mountain even before he him- 
self had become a Sulpician. Subsequently, M. Dubourg 
and he bought five hundred additional acres at Emmits- 
burg. The next year he bade farewell to Frederick and 
settled on the Mountain. In 1808 he opened a school, 
numbering seven scholars.^ These included a Pennsyl- 
vanian named Lilly and probably the sons of mountain 
villagers. Some of the scholars boarded with M. Dubois 

1 This current account of the beginning of the college does not seem 
to be well established in fact. M. Dubois doubtless gave the Mountain 
congregation special attention while he was building the mission church 
there in 1807, but there is no evidence to show that he had pupils on his 
hands at the time. In one of the earliest public notices of the college, 
that of the "Laity's Directory" of 1822, M. Dubois himself gives 1809 as 
the year of the foundation, and his statement agrees with the records of 
St. Mary's Seminary. On November 10, 1808, M. Dubourg and a builder 
named Weiss went to the Mountain to plan the buildings of the college. 
M. Dubois spent some days at the seminary in November and December, 
and was received into the Society of St. Sulpice, December 8, 1808. His 
superior, M. Nagot, sent him to Emmitsburg to improve the farm and 
to direct the construction of the college, and he resigned his charge of 
Frederick on March 21, 1809. On April 26 of that year MM. Nagot, 
Dubourg and Cooper, with three students for the new college, arrived 
at Emmitsburg, and M. Nagot spent the month of May with M. Dubois. 
About that time the Pigeon Hill students were transferred to Emmits- 
burg, but as the new buildings were not ready they were lodged, some in 
a brick house, some in M. Dubois' log house (See Shea, "The Life and 
Times of Archbishop Carroll," vol. iii, p. 343). A. B. 



130 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

and others in the neighboring houses, while the classes 
were held in a little brick building near bj. This was 
the cradle of Mount St. Mary's, Emmitsburg, which soon 
became a household word among the Catholics of the 
United States. M. Dubois was almost the entire faculty, 
for he had only one assistant. Messrs. Smith and Moyna- 
han ^ were his first adjunct professors, and each of them 
stayed only one year. 

Meanwhile the energetic college president, assisted 
financially by the Baltimore Sulpicians, had built two 
more log houses to receive the students. In the spring of 
1809 his academic family was increased by all the stu- 
dents of Pigeon Hill, sixteen in number, making a total 
of twenty-three. In 1811 these had increased so as to 
number forty, and in 1812 sixty. The faculty grew apace. 

Sixty students, of course, made a respectable begin- 
ning for a preparatory seminary. But before long M. 
Dubois was face to face with the same difficulties that 
turned St. Mary's College into a general institution of 
learning. The Baltimore Sulpicians were proud of their 
new institution and omitted nothing that might inspire 
the professors and students with a feeling of brotherhood. 
The Emmitsburg boys came to attend the commencement 
exercises at Baltimore, and the vacation students of the 
Baltimore college, together with such of their teachers as 
were free, spent a part of the summer on the Mountain. 
As M. Dubois' building operations required more money, 
the brethren at Baltimore at first generously provided for 
the needs of the Mountain. M. Tessier, the superior of 
the Baltimore seminary, at times made tours of inspection 
to Emmitsburg, and the Baltimore faculty deliberated re- 
garding the future of St. Mary's on the Mountain. 

At first all the Emmitsburg boys were certainly Catho- 

1 MM. Smith and Moynahan (Monahan) were recruits from Pigeon Hill. 
In the following September four seminarians were sent from Baltimore to 
the college on the Mountain. 



131 

lie and, it appears, hypothetically at least, candidates for 
the priesthood. No fear was entertained for the growth 
of the institution, but when the superior at Baltimore paid 
his visits to the Mountain, he found that its expenses were 
becoming continually more formidable, while its income 
remained inadequate. If we compare the development of 
the two St. Mary's colleges it is plain that, notwithstand- 
ing the comparative modesty of the buildings at Emmits- 
burg, the Baltimore institution was financially the more 
prosperous. Evidently the Baltimore students could be 
better depended upon as a source of income than the 
students on the Mountain, where not a few of them were 
charity students. At all events, only a few years after 
the opening of Mount St. Mary's College we find the ques- 
tion raised whether students should be admitted who had no 
aspiration to the priesthood or, for that matter, Protestant 
students. In 1815 both M. Gamier and the superior-gen- 
eral of the Society, M. Duclaux, had had their attention 
called to this problem, for they wrote both to their breth- 
ren at Baltimore and to the archbishop that it was the 
wish of the Sulpicians in Europe to have the Emmitsburg 
institution maintained strictly as a preparatory seminary.^ 
In 1818 things came to a crisis. The debts of the Moun- 
tain college swelled from year to year and began to dis- 
quiet the faculty of the mother institution, which had 
so far supplied its financial needs. ^ Could they continue 
to supply the money deficits and maintain the two col- 
leges? Would it be wiser to consolidate them into one 
institution or must the Mountain college be given up? 
These vital questions were debated by the Baltimore Sul- 
picians, on May 22, 1818, at a meeting at which Arch- 
bishop Marechal was present, but which reached no final 

1 See Andre. "Histoire de Saint Sulpice aux fitats-Unis" in "Bulletin 
Trimestriel," No. 54, p. 373. 

2 The Baltimore Seminary, as legal owner, was responsible for the debts 
of the Mountain, but another difficulty arose from the dearth of teachers. 
In 1818 there were only eight Sulpicians to direct a seminary and two 
colleges. 



132 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

conclusion. The archbishop opposed the suppression of 
the Emmitsburg college, but was obliged to leave the meet- 
ing while the question was still being discussed. !N'othing 
was done except to send M. Damphoux, the president of 
St. Mary's College, Baltimore, to Emmitsburg in order 
to ascertain the views of the Emmitsburg faculty. These 
opposed any radical measures. Both colleges, they de- 
clared, were doing good, and consequently both should be 
allowed to exist, at least for the time being. But the Bal- 
timore Sulpicians considered the situation critical and 
action urgent, as the Emmitsburg students must be in- 
formed without delay where they were to go in the fol- 
lowing September. The Mount St. Mary's authorities 
replied that, before taking extreme measures, the gen- 
eral superior at Paris ought to be consulted. Perhaps, 
they said, it might be possible to find some way out of the 
difficulty and maintain both colleges, in view of the serv- 
ices both were rendering to the Church. The Baltimore 
gentlemen thought it unnecessary to wait or to trouble 
the superiors in Europe with the problem which they, be- 
ing on the spot, were in a better position to understand. 
When the vote was taken, it was in favor of suppressing 
the college on the Mountain. M. Tessier, the head of 
the Baltimore, and therefore of the American Sulpicians, 
immediately recalled MM. Hickey and Eandanne, who 
were then professors at Emmitsburg. 

This step surprised and shocked the European superi- 
ors. M. Gamier communicated with Archbishop Mare- 
chal and a satisfactory arrangement was brought about, 
whereby the Emmitsburg college remained a Sulpician 
institution. The title of the property passed to M. Du- 
bois, who held it for the Society of St. Sulpice. Arch- 
bishop Marechal allowed his seminarians, then teaching 
at the Mountain, to continue to do so for some years at 
least, and reinforced its faculty by sending a newly or- 



dained priest, the Rev. Mr. Cooper, to assist M. Dubois. 
The two institutions became entirely independent of each 
other, and both continued to take students who had no 
clerical aspirations. But M. Dubois did not give up the 
idea of making a genuine preparatory seminary of his in- 
stitution on the Mountain. He was as ardent, indefati- 
gable, and confident as ever, and his college, in spite of the 
obstacles it encountered, grew and prospered. 

For the purpose of obtaining a more intimate knowl- 
edge of Mount St. Mary's and of becoming acquainted 
with its students and faculty nothing could be more use- 
ful than a register of the professors and students such 
as we possess of St. Mary's College in Baltimore. But 
such a register, as far as we know, does not exist, and we 
must, therefore, strive to get what light we can from no- 
tices scattered here and there through other documents. 
The head of the faculty, of course, was M. Dubois, and 
with all his kindness and elegance of manner he was the 
ruler of the institution. The boys were very fond of him, 
but this did not prevent them from calling him the "little 
Napoleon," a very significant term. He was the chief, 
not only in the church and the college and the adjoining 
Convent of St. Joseph's, the mother-house of the Sisters 
of Charity, but in the carpenter shop, in the garden, and 
on the farm as well, directing and working. But if he 
was authoritative, he was also good natured, and if he 
was a ]^apoleon, he was a democratic IsTapoleon, who was 
felt to be a father rather than a general. 

M. Dubois' chief lieutenant and confidential adviser 
was M. Simon Brute. We have already made his ac- 
quaintance in the preceding chapter as president of St. 
Mary's College, Baltimore, where he succeeded M. Pa- 
quiet. To this position he had been called from the col- 
lege on the Mountain, which had been his home since 1812. 
However, M. Brute's absence from the Mountain was of 



134 THE SULPICIAKS IN THE UNITED STATES 

short duration, for in 1818 he rejoined M. Dubois and 
remained at Enunitsburg until 1834. M. Brute supplied 
some of the qualities in which the president of Mount 
St. Mary's College was deficient. He was a careful man, 
slow to act, but vigorous in action. In fact, from 1818, 
as a result of his wise advice, there was a remarkable im- 
provement in the financial situation of Mount St. Mary's 
College. 

Of the other Sulpician professors at Mount St. Mary's, 
we know M. Eandanne chiefly as a faithful professor at 
St. Mary's College, Baltimore. There he spent the best 
part of his life, being a member of the faculty from 1818 
to 1852. The Rev. M. Hickey, who had a reputation as 
a disciplinarian and as an English scholar, was a mem- 
ber of the Emmitsburg staff from 1814 to 1818, when he 
was called to Baltimore. However, he returned to the 
Mountain in 1826, when this college was finally severed 
from the Society of St. Sulpice. The greater part of the 
Emmitsburg faculty consisted of the young men who were 
at the same time studying theology. As at Baltimore, 
they proved their competence by their success. Many 
reached high stations when they entered upon their active 
work in the world. Among these must be mentioned John 
Hughes, the great Archbishop of !N'ew York. 

As to the students of Mount St. Mary's College, it has 
been its well-known distinction from the beginning to 
supply a large number of ecclesiastics to the American 
Church, and not only faithful priests but also able bishops. 
We have just mentioned Archbishop Hughes. His suc- 
cessor. Cardinal McCloskey, was likewise a student at 
Emmitsburg during the Sulpician period of the college. 
The cardinal's successor, Archbishop Corrigan, was also 
an alumnus of Mount St. Mary's, though at a later date, 
so that from 1826, when M. Dubois became Bishop of 



OTHEE SUBSIDIABIES OF ST. MAEY S SEMINARY 135 

!N"ew York, until 1902, men of tlie Mountain swayed the 
destinies of the great diocese of New York. 

Among the other alumni of Mount St. Mary's, most of 
whom were members of the corps of instructors, were 
the future Archbishop of Cincinnati, John B. Purcell, 
Bishop George A. Carroll of Covington, Bishop William 
Quarter of Chicago, Bishop Eichard Y. Whelan of Wheel- 
ing, W. Ya. ; Bev. William Byrne, the founder of St. 
Mary's College, Kentucky, and many other distinguished 
clergymen. Among the distinguished lay alumni we may 
mention Captain William Seton of the United States 
!N'avy, Mr. James McSherry, a graduate of 1828, who 
became a lawyer of note and wrote a widely read history 
of Maryland. 

A comparison of the faculties and students of the two 
St. Mary's colleges establishes the fact that each had its 
well-marked characteristics. At Baltimore the influence 
of the French Sulpicians always remained predominant. 
At Emmitsburg, though MM. Dubois and Brute, whose 
influence was paramount in the foundation of the col- 
lege, were also French Sulpicians, the American and 
Irish-American element soon grew powerful. At the 
same time. Mount St. Mary's never had as large a rep- 
resentation of West Indian students, nor was the Prot- 
estant element as strong there as at Baltimore. Again, 
Mount St. Mary's, though not strictly a preparatory semi- 
nary, contributed a much larger quota to the Catholic 
clergy of the United States than did its sister institution. 
For many decades it supplied a large share of the bishops 
of the United States, among them many men distinguished 
by scholarship as well as by administrative talent. M. 
Dubois was, therefore, correctly inspired when, in 1818, 
he insisted with all his vigor on the maintenance of his 
beloved Mountain college. He infused into it new life, 



136 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

and before long the clearest evidences of success and pros- 
perity began to appear. 

The scattered frame buildings, which had hitherto been 
the only homes of the Mountain muse, were found to b© 
insufficient. In 1822 the old president began to build 
for the Mountain students a new home, dignified and 
sufficient for the needs of the institution. With his usual 
energy he pressed forward his undertaking, and the struc- 
ture was all but completed when in the night of June 6, 
1824, it was destroyed by fire. M. Dubois, who had been 
aroused from his bed, stood by impotent to save the 
structure on which he had built so many hopes. But the 
old hero was not discouraged. "The Lord hath given," 
he cried out, "the Lord hath taken away. Blessed be 
the name of the Lord." Then he pointed out to his 
stricken friends the spot on which he would forthwith 
build a new and improved home for his students. Events 
proved that M. Dubois was not too hopeful, for within 
a few weeks he started his new building and everybody 
was ready to second his efforts. Not only his faculty but 
his students spread over the country and brought home 
substantial tokens of the interest which Maryland and 
the adjacent States took in the hard-tried college. In 
1826 the students, who had meanwhile occupied the old 
frame dwellings, were able to take up their new quarters, 
and the future promised even more success than had 
been achieved before the catastrophe. The fire which 
destroyed Mount St. Mary's proved the beginning of a 
new era in more senses than one. The comparatively new 
building was replaced by a newer and better. At the 
same time the institution severed its connection with the 
Society of St. Sulpice. 

M. Dubois was not to guide the destinies of St. Mary's 
of the Mountain much longer. The year 1826, which sev- 
ered the connection between Mount St. Mary's College 



OTHEE SUBSIDIAEIES OF ST. MAEy's SEMINARY 137 

and the Sulpicians, also severed that between Mount St. 
Mary's and its founder and president. Late in the sum- 
mer of 1826, the Bulls arrived from Rome appointing 
M. Dubois Bishop of l^ew York. Reluctantly he accepted 
the honor and agreed to bid farewell to his beloved college 
and to his Maryland friends. The retreat preparatory 
to his consecration was made among his Sulpician breth- 
ren at Baltimore, who wished him every success in his 
new career. Of his activity as a missionary bishop, we 
shall speak in our next chapter. 

In the course of these events M. Flaget's attempt to 
found a preparatory clerical school in the West, according 
to M. Emery's suggestion, had proved a failure. About 
the same time as M. Flaget, two other Sulpicians, M. 
Levadoux and M. Richard, began missionary life in what 
was then called the l^orthwest, and to work there for the 
cause of clerical education. The former of these gentle- 
men was an old professor of the Society of St. Sulpice, 
who prior to the Revolution of 1789 had been a director 
in the Seminary of Limoges. He had been a member of 
the first band of Sulpicians who arrived in Baltimore in 
1791. M. Richard was a young man about twenty-four 
years of age who had just joined the Society of St. Sul- 
pice at the end of his theological studies. He came to 
Baltimore with M. Flaget and M. Ciquard. As their serv- 
ices were not needed at the Baltimore seminary, Richard 
was sent to the West by Bishop Carroll, and at first evan- 
gelized the French and Indians of the Illinois district. 
Later M. Levadoux penetrated farther north and settled 
in Detroit, then a village of about 2,000 souls, mostly 
French. In 1798 M. Richard came to Detroit, and jointly 
with M. Levadoux attended to the spiritual needs not only 
of Detroit but of the entire Lake region as far as Sault 
Ste. Marie. In 1803, M. Levadoux was recalled to 
France and became professor of theology at Saint Flour. 



138 THE STTLPICIANS IIS" THE UNITED STATES 

M. Eichard remained in sole charge of Detroit and its 
vicinity, where he proved to be one of the most energetic 
and notable missionaries in the northwest of the United 
States. This is not the place to enlarge upon his achieve^ 
ments as pastor of the Detroit congregation of St. Anne 
nor as a missionary to the Indians, our present concern 
being with his endeavor to carry out M. Emery's instruc- 
tions to start preparatory seminaries. In 1804, only one 
year after M. Levadoux's departure for France had left 
him superior of the Detroit mission, he undertook to es- 
tablish a seminary for the education of young clerics. 
The year before he had prepared for the venture by found- 
ing some elementary schools taught by ladies. In his 
seminary were taught Latin, geography, ecclesiastical his- 
tory, Church music, and the practice of mental prayer.^ 
But the zealous Sulpician's enterprise was doomed to 
speedy destruction. The following year (1805) his school 
shared the fate of the rising village of Detroit and was 
reduced to ashes, along with the Church of St. Anne and 
M. Richard's home. 

The story we have told in the present chapter shows 
how loyal to Father Olier's idea were the gentlemen of St. 
Sulpice who came to America. Cast out of their own 
land, refugees in a strange country, their first and their 
constant thought was the education of the clergy. Failure 
did not discourage them. Whether in the East or in the 
West, the Sulpician missionary, as soon as he was settled 
in his new home gathered about him young men who gave 
proof of a clerical vocation. We can not help admiring 
their steadfastness. They failed at Baltimore, they failed 
at Pigeon Hill, they failed at Emmitsburg, they failed in 
Illinois, they failed at Detroit, but never even for a mo- 
ment did they waver in their loyalty to the purpose of 
their company. Their almost grim determination to stand 

1 See Rev. John J. O'Brien, "The Rev. Gabriel Richard, Educator, States- 
man, and Priest" in "Historical Records and Studies," vol. v, p. 81. 



OTHEE SUBSIDIABIES OF ST. MAEy's SEMINARY 139 

by the program of MM. Olier and Emery is a characteris- 
tic of their endeavors and their history. That is the 
principal moral to be drawn from the story we have re- 
cited. 



Chapter VII 
The Sui^PiciAN Missionary Bishops and Missionaries 

In one particular M. Olier had deviated from the prin- 
cipal aim and ideal of the Company he founded. The 
seventeenth century was for the Church of France, as 
well as for the Church in general, a great missionary 
period. To the West as well as to the East bands of zeal- 
ous, nay, heroic men, set forth to bring the glad tidings of 
the Gospel. M. Olier did not resist this universal cur- 
rent, and sent his brethren to Montreal to share in the 
glorious work of conquering the children of the redman 
and gathering them into Christ's fold. When, therefore, 
the wild fanaticism of the French Revolution drove out 
a large part of M. Olier's sons to seek refuge in America, 
the never quailing chief of the Company, M. Emery, saw 
in M. Olier's settlement of Montreal a warrant for send- 
ing his confreres forth as missionaries to gain over to 
Christ's flock both the whitemen and the redmen of the 
new world. 

We must not be understood as representing M. Emery 
as an obstinate idealist, for apart from M. Olier's example 
many weighty reasons almost compelled him to embrace 
this policy. With difficulty did the new Republic main- 
tain one seminary, and only a few of the sons of M. Olier 
could be employed directly in the cause of sacerdotal train- 
ing. On the other hand, the cry for missionaries was 
loud and insistent from every quarter. The forests of 
Maine, the islands of the Great Lakes and the prairies of 
the Mississippi valley all clamored for black robes to 

140 



STJLPICIAN MISSIONAKY BISHOPS AND MISSIONARIES 141 

spread the Gospel among the native children of the land. 
The adventurous countrymen of Champlain and de La 
Salle craved for missionaries to succeed Brebeuf, Jogues, 
Marquette and Hennepin, and the young American 
Church, following in the footsteps of her European sis- 
ters, was keenly conscious of her duty to place her doc- 
trines and her example before the separated brethren who, 
after centuries of persecution, had opened Columbia's 
hospitable doors to Catholics as well as to other Christians. 

]^ow the Sulpicians were at the time the only apostles 
of Catholicism in a position to satisfy these demands 
and to accept these invitations. Moreover they were 
fully qualified to undertake these missions. They had 
the zeal and courage needed by the Indian missionary, the 
pluck and mental agility required to deal with the coureurs 
de hots, and the polish, gentleness and learning likely to 
impress the Anglo- Ajnerican colonist. M. Emery, there- 
fore, from the beginning did not hesitate to urge the Sul- 
pician gentlemen whom he sent to the United States to 
devote themselves to these missionary duties. The first 
arrivals reached Baltimore in 1792, and in the same year, 
we find them busy in the service of French, English and 
Indians in the northeast as well as on the banks of the 
Mississippi. We have already seen with what readiness 
and zeal MM. Flaget, Dilhet, Sicard and Eichard betook 
themselves to their several fields of labor. These were 
only the pioneers and most of them only served the cause 
of Christ as plain soldiers. But circumstances and Provi- 
dence had ordained that others of the gentlemen of St. 
Sulpice were to be officers and leaders of the throngs by 
whom the influence of the Church was to be extended in 
our great Eepublic. 

From their arrival in the last decade of the eighteenth 
century, the Sulpicians were unquestionably the strongest 
body of churchmen in the country. The old Jesuit apostles 



142 THE SULPICIAlSrS IN THE UNITED STATES 

were growing few and feeble through age. Accidental ar- 
rivals from divers countries of Europe were of various 
merit and unfit for concerted effort, and learning for the 
most part was not a striking feature in their equipment, 
while naturally enough their manners were marked by 
energy rather than by elegance. 

In most respects the Sulpicians presented a distinct con- 
trast to these accidental apostles. They were received by 
American gentlemen as representatives of the faithful 
allies of struggling America. Learning was their profes- 
sion, inasmuch as they were dedicated to a life of scholar- 
ship. They claimed the sympathies of the Americans as 
educators. Controversy they avoided as much as possible, 
but when it did come their intellectual war was carried 
on in a way that convinced their adversaries that the con- 
quest they sought was peace and agreement. In France, 
while they sought retirement on principle, many of them 
had been by circumstance brought into contact with the 
scholars and aristocratic world of pre-Kevolutionary times. 
Besides all these attractions they were strangers, not Eng- 
lishmen, and the very imperfection with which they spoke 
the English language added piquancy, interest and charm 
to their conversation. Above all they were models of 
Christian life, not only modest and retiring, but ever ready 
to do service to friend and foe, charitable without narrow- 
ness, zealous without aggressiveness, elegant without ef- 
feminacy, dignified without pride. 

It goes without saying that such men were almost pre- 
destined to become leaders in the young Church of the 
new world, and naturally it is not at all remarkable to 
find a large number of the early prelates of the Ameri- 
can Church taken from the ranks of the pious and learned 
sons of St. Sulpice. Their lives and their gentle achieve- 
ments were not the least part of the history of St. Sulpice 
in America, though of course their elevation to the episco- 




Et, Eev. Benedict Joseph Flaget, 
First Bishop of Bardstown. 



SUIiPICIAN MISSIONABY BISHOPS AND MISSIONAKIES 143 

pate broke to some extent the ties between them and their 
Company. However, though no one felt this rupture 
more than these loyal Sulpicians themselves, still in some 
respects it was more apparent than real. They ceased to 
be Sulpicians but the spirit of St. Sulpice never departed 
from them. They remained the same zealous, modest lov- 
ers of learning; they were animated by the same earnest- 
ness in the cause of clerical education, and in truth of 
all education ; they were the same indefatigable laborers ; 
they led the same democratic life of simplicity which dis- 
tinguished them as seminary professors. The history of 
the Sulpicians would be incomplete without a sketch of 
these devoted and noble representatives of their Company 
and the Church. 



I — Right Reverend Benedict Joseph Flaget, S.S. 

The first member of M. Olier's Society to become the 
shepherd of a flock in the United States was in many ways, 
heart and soul, a typical Sulpician. We speak of Bishop 
Flaget. The command of the Holy Father severed his 
immediate connection with his brethren, but to the end 
of his life the principles and instincts which characterize 
a true Sulpician filled his heart and guided his actions. 
Bishop Flaget was an Auvergnat, having been bom in the 
small town of Contoumat in 1763. He was brought up 
by the Sulpicians and joined the Company at the early 
age of twenty. Even before his ordination in 1Y88 he 
was professor of dogma at Nantes in Brittany, and imme- 
diately after his ordination we fijid him a professor of the 
theological faculty at Angers, where he remained until 
his departure for Baltimore, in 1792. 

He came to the United States in the prime of his man- 
hood, a thorough Sulpician by education and by practice. 
Though his family was not distinguished, his parents be- 



144 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

ing simple fanners, his Sulpician education had made of 
him a man of dignified manners. Both his parents died 
early, his father, in fact, before Benedict was born, yet 
the son was tall and strong, and of an impressive appear- 
ance. Like all of his Sulpician brethren he was habitually 
gentle and affable in his bearing, though in case of need 
he could be energetic and authoritative. In short, nature 
had endowed him with the physical, mental and moral 
qualities of a zealous, successful and holy missionary, 
while both nature and education fitted him to be a ruler 
of men. At the same time he was both humorous himself 
and appreciative of humor in others, and this humor did 
not desert him either amid the hardships of travel nor 
amid the epidemic of cholera. He was singularly modest, 
and his humility filled his mind with doubt of having the 
learning requisite in a bishop, though he had taught the- 
ology for well nigh ten years. That he was a good disci- 
plinarian was a fixed tradition at St. Mary's College, Bal- 
timore. 

When M. Flaget reached the American shore, he was 
sent, according to the wishes of M. Emery, to the Illinois 
country and for a time had his headquarters at Yincennes, 
but he did not remain there very long. In 1795 Bishop 
Carroll recalled him and made him vice-president of 
Georgetown College, where he stayed till 1798. Our read- 
ers will recall M. Flaget's voyage to Havana and his return 
to Baltimore in 1801. Here he became a member of the 
faculty of St. Mary's Academy, while no doubt he, like 
other Sulpicians, aided in the pastoral administration of 
the cathedral parish. In 1808 duty called him for a time 
to the Mountain college at Emmitsburg, where he was 
almost overwhelmed by the receipt of a papal Bull naming 
him the first Bishop of Bardstown, Kentucky, which was 
made a see at the same time that Kew York, Philadelphia 
and Boston were erected into bishoprics. Bishop Carroll 



SULPICIAIS- MISSIONARY BISHOPS AND MISSIONARIES 145 

had suggested him for this position, which practically com- 
mitted to his charge the entire Northwest as far as Michi- 
gan, and extended southward so as to include Tennessee. 

Bishop Carroll thought M. Flaget especially fitted for 
the see of Bardstown because of his virtues, his remarkable 
qualities as a ruler and his acquaintance with the country 
with whose spiritual government he was to be entrusted. 
But M. Flaget was wholly unconscious of all this, being 
convinced that neither his theological learning nor his 
other well-tried qualities fitted him for the position of 
bishop. Besides had he not promised never to aspire to an 
episcopal see and never to accept one except by the peremp- 
tory orders of the Holy Father ? When therefore the news 
of his elevation reached him at Emmitsburg, he hurried 
down to Baltimore and set every expedient in motion to 
nullify the Bull. The first man he met on reaching the 
Seminary was M. David, whom rumor had designated for 
the see of Bardstown, and who took the bishop-elect by 
the hand, congratulated him and offered to go to Ken- 
tucky to assist him. M. Flaget thanked him for his offer, 
assuring him that had M. David been named Bishop of 
Bardstown he would have offered his own services to him. 
Then M. Flaget asked the advice of the other Baltimore 
Sulpicians. They prayed and fasted for several days and 
then resolved that every effort should be made to avert 
the misfortune which threatened M. Flaget. They went 
to Bishop Carroll, told him of their prayers and fasting 
and begged him to use his utmost efforts to turn aside the 
threatened catastrophe. The bishop listened patiently and 
then assured them that he had also prayed, and not only he, 
but the Holy Father. 

The result of these protests was that Bishop Car- 
roll wrote both to M. Emery and to the Pope. Meantime, 
M. Flaget was hopeful. When he received no answer from 
M. Emery nor from the Holy Father, he started off to 



146 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UK^ITED STATES 

France, for M. Emery, lie thought, would surely help him. 
When he entered his room, M. Emery received him with 
the words : "My Lord Bishop, you should be in your dio- 
cese." This sentence came like a thunder-clap. Then M. 
Emery told him that he had just received a letter from the 
papal authorities bidding M. Flaget accept the episcopal 
dignity, and made him prepare at once to attend to his 
duties. The loyal Sulpician did not appreciate his su- 
perior's display of authority. He complained that he 
was not being treated fairly, that he had been always a 
faithful Sulpician, had worked for the welfare of the 
Company and had said three Masses for each of his de- 
ceased confreres, expecting that the Company would do 
the like by him at his death, but that now, being cast out 
of the Society, he would lose this advantage. The Superior 
General began to console him. "You will not cease to be 
a member of the Society," he declared, "for you accept 
the bishop's miter in obedience to my mandate. Moreover, 
I will see to it that when you die every Sulpician shall say 
three Masses for you." M. Flaget was checkmated and 
bowing to the inevitable, secured what assistance he could 
in France and prepared to return to the new world. 

When the Superior General bade him farewell, he was 
unusually cordial, agreeing to allow M. David to go to 
Bardstown to help the bishop for at least three years. 
Moreover, he gave him two presents, a box of needles and 
a French cook book. The former, he said, belonged to 
the necessary outfit of every good bishop, while the latter 
might prove valuable, as some of his future lambs had 
not yet learned European cookery, and the bishop might 
stand in sore need of a French culinary hand-book. Armed 
with these and many other gifts, among them some vest- 
ments highly valued by the Sulpicians and a chalice which 
had belonged to M. Olier, and which is now at St. Mary's 
Seminary, he came back to Baltimore. Bishop Carroll 



SULPICIAN MISSIONARY BISHOPS AITD MISSIONARIES 147 

he declared, and no one else, should consecrate him, for 
it was he who had put this burden upon him. 

As soon as he was consecrated, he planned to go to his 
diocese, but alas ! he lacked the needed means. M. Badin, 
whom he had named vicar general, offered to collect the 
necessary money in Kentucky, but the bishop would not 
hear of beginning his activity by imposing a tax on his 
people. Fortunately his Baltimore friends were ready to 
help him, and in May, 1810, he made his entry into Bards- 
town. He was received cordially by both clergy and laity, 
though neither were formidable on account of their num- 
bers. Kentucky, which was the heart, so to speak, of his 
diocese, numbered about six thousand Catholics, divided 
up into thirty congregations, each consisting on an average 
of about two hundred souls. But only ten of these con- 
gregations had a church, the rest worshiping wherever they 
could find a home. The Dominicans had a primitive mon- 
astery dedicated to St. Rose and a few of the secular pas- 
tors had plain residences. These buildings together with 
six plantations constituted the wealth of the Church in 
Bishop Flaget's diocese proper. 

Outside of Kentucky, the new prelate also governed all 
the faithful to be found on the eastern bank of the upper 
Mississippi including Indiana, Illinois and even Michi- 
gan, as well as the few Catholics settled in Tennessee. The 
Kentucky Catholics were mostly pioneer descendants of 
Maryland emigrants, while the Catholics to the north of 
Kentucky were French Creoles who had spread southward 
from Canada. In the Illinois country and in Michigan 
many Indians were still to be found, a number of them 
Catholics, whose ancestors had been converted by Jesuits 
and other priests, while many were pagans. The Bishop 
of Bardstown, therefore, had a flock demanding all the skill 
and resources of a wise and energetic shepherd. Mon- 



148 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

seigneur Flaget lost no time in proving both his wisdom 
and his vigor. 

The history of the Sulpieians does not call for the de- 
tailed story of the episcopal activities of the Sulpieians 
who were placed in charge of bishoprics, but in the case 
of Bishop Flaget we shall feel ourselves justified in laying 
before our readers a more detailed picture of his work, 
especially inasmuch as this illustrates the Sulpician aims 
and spirit. Moreover, if in the case of other Sulpician 
bishops we refrain from entering with equal fullness on 
their history, our picture of Bishop Flaget's doings will 
enable our readers to fill in more satisfactorily the story 
of these good and worthy prelates. ISTor shall we feel 
ourselves bound to follow the chronological order in every 
particular. We shall group the facts with a view to make 
them show most vividly what kind of a man Bishop Flaget 
was and to what extent he represented the Sulpician type.^ 

The Sulpician, we must repeat, is first and foremost an 
educator of clerics. Hence one of the first works taken 
in hand by the new bishop was the formation of a native 
clergy, trained to fulfill the duties of good pastors. M. 
Emery had promised the bishop-elect the loan of M. David 
for three years, which meant that even then the bishop 
and the superior general had resolved that one of the first 
measures of the new administration was to be the organiza- 
tion of a seminary. We use the word organization because 
neither the diocese nor the bishop had the means allowing 
them to think of erecting even a very modest building. 
Bishop Flaget lost no time, but forthwith appointed M. 

1 Fortunately, Bishop M. J. Spalding of Louisville, one of Bishop Flaget's 
closest friends, who was intimately associated with his later days, who 
became his successor, and ultimately Archbishop of Baltimore, has left us 
a most interesting Life of Bishop Flaget. It is to a great extent based 
upon Bishop Flaget's diary, which not only records his doings but por- 
trays the inner life of the man ; his piety, modesty, fear of, and trust in 
God, his unselfishness, devotion to duty and love of his clergy and his 
flock. It is in every way an admirable work, not only edifying but con- 
vincing and placing before the reader an undistorted and unadorned pic- 
ture. We commend to all our readers these "Sketches of the Life, Times 
and Character of the Rt. Rev. Benedict J. Flaget, First Bishop of Louis- 
ville," 8vo., Louisville, 1852. 



SULPICIAN MISSIONARY BISHOPS AND MISSIONARIES 149 

David superior of the seminary. At first he constituted 
the entire faculty, but in the course of time the faculty 
increased, and the priests sent forth by the seminary are 
sufficient evidence of the excellence of the spirit and 
methods of M. David and his assistants. 

As a missionary, the new bishop had before him the 
example of the early Sulpicians sent by M. Olier to 
Canada and an extensive missionary field. Like the 
Canadian Sulpicians he did not neglect the Indians, but 
in his missionary activity, as in everything else, he com- 
bined zeal, energy and method. During the first years of 
his episcopate he did not personally go outside of Ken- 
tucky, but that territory would make a very respectable 
European kingdom. Besides he was a bishop without a 
cathedral, for it would be misleading to give this title to 
the chapel of St. Stephen, now Loretto, where his vicar 
general. Father Badin, had resided, and where a log 
cabin sixteen by sixteen was his palace. He had therefore 
plenty of work before him at home. Nevertheless we 
learn that during the first four months of the year 1812 
he traveled eight hundred miles, visiting various missions. 
These visits he usually made on horseback and when his 
work took him beyond the line of the more civilized dis- 
tricts, it was not uncommon for him to sleep in the open 
air under the clear sky of heaven. Of course, after 1814, 
when he extended his missionary trips beyond Kentucky 
to Vincennes, Indiana and St. Louis, Missouri, he rode 
much longer distances and had probably much tougher 
fare. Still we do not hear of his having had recourse to 
the French cook book presented to him by M. Emery. His 
vicar general, the Reverend Stephen Badin, claimed to 
have ridden more than 100,000 miles on his missionary 
tours. We have no records enabling us to calculate pre- 
cisely how many miles Bishop Flaget traveled, but we may 
safely assume that his journeys covered tens of thousands 



150 THE SULPICIAITS IN THE TJNITED STATES 

of miles. !N'or were his travels always pleasant tours, the 
rides being at times too lengthy for such a purpose. In 
the year 1818 he extended his journey farther northward 
and on May 26th reached Fort Finley, Ohio. 

The traveler's comforts he enjoyed here were not en- 
chanting. There was hut one bed-room for fourteen or 
fifteen guests. They spread their blankets on a very rough 
floor and slept as well as they could. The menu for 
breakfast was of the simplest, bacon being the meat on 
the occasion and com bread the only cereal product served. 
Both were prepared by the landlady and her daughters, 
who, as well as the other attendants, were suffering from 
the itch. The guests drank from the same vessels as the 
attendants and we may doubt whether the usual condi- 
ments were at hand. At all events, on the day before the 
bishop had met and ministered to a party of Indians, and 
the squaws, to express their gratitude, had presented his 
lordship with a pound or two of sugar. We may infer 
that sugar was not too plentiful near Fort Finley. To 
these discomforts we must add the almost universal ab- 
sence of roads. Where roads existed they were rude and 
elementary, and the traveler on horseback had frequently 
to struggle with branches and underbrush as well as with 
swamps. Moreover, we must not forget the rains, against 
which in this sparsely settled country there was but little 
shelter. 

But there were other inconveniences which our episcopal 
traveler had to face. In fact, to a cultured man with a 
delicate conscience they were even more annoying and more 
torturing than the physical trials to which we have called 
attention. If we refer to Bishop Flaget's diary, we 
find that in the year 181Y, when returning from St. Louis 
to Bardstown by way of Illinois, he came to an inn whose 
principal room, according to Bishop Spalding, was 
"crowded with wagoners, who did nothing but utter con- 



SULPICIAN MISSIONARY BISHOPS AND MISSIONARIES 151 

tinuallj tlie most horrible oaths and blasphemies. For- 
tunately a negro man came in, who began playing on the 
violin, left-handed, while a negress danced! The back- 
woodsmen stopped their swearing, in their admiration of 
the remarkable fiddler and the novel danseuse. Even the 
Bishop could not refrain from laughing at the grotesque 
scene, while he blessed God for having thus put an end 
to blasphemies so revolting; and though he heartily dis- 
liked dancing on all occasions, yet he now willingly tol- 
erated it, as the less of two evils." 

During a later trip to Indiana we come upon another 
incident illustrating the uncouth character of the people 
whom traveling missionaries were likely to encounter. On 
this occasion Bishop Flaget had with him as traveling 
companion the Eeverend Mr. Abell, a refined young 
American. "They put up for the night," says Bishop 
Spalding, "at a way-side house of entertainment, which 
was a one story log cabin, with a garret or loft, approached 
by a ladder. The prelate and his companion lodged in 
this garret, the floor of which was covered with loose 
boards ; while the family and some wagoners occupied the 
lower room. The Bishop had an alarm clock and he set 
it so as to go off at four o'clock — ^his usual hour for rising. 
In the morning, the clock created quite an alarm among 
the occupants of the lower floor. Several sprang to their 
feet in fright; when a more knowing or a more drowsy 
wagoner calmed them with the illuminating explanation, 
'Lie still, you fools ! it is only the old priest's clock which 
has busted.' " 

Amid such hardships the old gentleman, for he was 
forty-seven years old when he was consecrated, continued 
his visitations till his eighty-sixth year, traveling not only 
from village to village and county to county, but from 
State to State. His journeys, besides every part of Ken- 
tucky, covered Tennessee, Ohio, Indiana, Missouri, Illi- 



152 THE SULPICIANS llf THE UNITED STATES 

nois, Michigan, and Canada as far as Quebec. Every- 
where his eyes were open to the needs of the people. 
Where he found half a dozen f amiles he organized a con- 
gregation; where he found the churches neglected he re- 
stored them ; where he found the congregations quarreling, 
he reconciled them, and not only congregations, hut fam- 
ilies and individuals. 

A case of this kind is recorded by Bishop Spalding.^ 
The bishop in 1817 visited Scott County with his vicar 
general, Father Badin, their chief purpose being to recon- 
cile two neighbors who were leading men in the congre- 
gation. For two weeks the two clergymen rummaged 
through old papers and documents but made little prog- 
ress. "At last one of the quarrelers remarked with some 
bitterness of tone that he wished he had burned all his 
papers and never brought up that matter for adjudica- 
tion. The bishop seized eagerly on the hint and at once 
earnestly exhorted them both to burn their papers and to 
forget the past. They could not resist his touching appeal 
uttered with so much fatherly feeling. . . . The next 
morning the Bishop said Mass in the house of one of these 
men, the other being present. . . . Before the Com- 
munion, the Bishop turned round and addressed them one 
of his most fervid exhortations. After Mass the papers 
were solemnly burned ; the two enemies shook hands ; and 
the feud was terminated — ^much to the joy and edification 
of all present, many of whom could not restrain their 
tears.'' 

He heard countless confessions, urged the building of 
schools and not only encouraged the religious instruction 
of his own flock, but when occasion offered explained the 
doctrines of the Church to non-Catholics. He devised a 
novel method of instruction which proved both so popular 
and effective, that he had recourse to it to the end of 

1 Spalding, "Sketches of the Life, Times and Character of Bishop 
Flaget," pp. 245-246. 



SULPICIAN MISSIONAEY BISHOPS AND MISSIONARIES 153 

his life. The first time he tried it was at Detroit in 1818, 
on which occasion M. Kichard, his old confrere, faced him 
in the sanctuary, putting questions to him on the doctrines 
of the Church, and the bishop answered by explaining 
them. When he was visiting the various parts of his dio- 
cese, he preached almost daily and sometimes he preached 
as often as three and four times a day. Nay, at times he 
preached regular retreats of a week or more in order to 
instruct his people. 

Besides these episcopal visitations, during which he also 
administered the Sacrament of Confirmation, he per- 
formed, whenever it was necessary, the duties of a plain 
parish priest. Thus in 1820 and 1821 during the absence 
of the Eeverend M. !N"erinckx in Europe, he attended to 
the six or seven congregations regularly under the care of 
that worthy missionary. Similarly, on other occasions he 
took charge of the flocks of the Eeverend Mr. Abell, the 
Reverend M. Chabrat and others. He took this pastoral 
work most seriously, not only visiting the sick in the ca- 
thedral congregation, but when, in 1832-33, the cholera 
ravaged Kentucky he was ready to help the sick in every 
part of the State. 

On the Monday after Pentecost the plague broke out in 
the family of Mr. Roberts (a Protestant gentleman), re- 
siding some eight miles from Bardstown. Three of his 
servants and a daughter fell victims to it. All the neigh- 
bors fled, whereupon two Sisters of Loretto went to the 
aid of the stricken and were followed by two Sisters of 
'NsLzareth. and the Reverend Dr. Reynolds, later Bishop 
of Charleston, S. C. One of the Sisters died of the dis- 
ease. The bishop himself next appeared at the desolate 
home, baptized a daughter of Mr. Roberts and anointed 
a dying servant. When the cholera reached Bardstown, 
the bishop was equally intrepid. As long as the plague 
lasted he faced it boldly and escaped infection, but when 



154 THE SULPICIANS IN THE TJl^ITED STATES 

it seemed to die out it laid hold of the sturdy bishop and 
brought him almost to the grave. For three days his 
physicians despaired of his life, but his sturdy constitu- 
tion, bold heart and God's help restored him to health, to 
the joy, not only of his own flock, but also of the entire city 
of Bardstown. 

Bishop Flaget, following the example of the old Sul- 
pician missionaries of Montreal and of Canada generally, 
showed the greatest interest in the American redskins. 
The days were past when the savages tortured the Chris- 
tian missionaries to death, and many of the Indians had 
already found their homes beyond the Mississippi. But 
wherever the bishop met with them, he did not fail to 
provide for his redskin children. "When in 1792 the small- 
pox raged in Vincennes, especially among the Indians, he 
was an ever active pastor among them. During his visit 
to Canada it gave him great pleasure to inspect the Indian 
settlements near the residence of his friend, M. Malaud, 
at St. Anne. He was edified with their singing, admired 
their superb "Calvary" and was amused with their sports. 
He promised to send missionaries to the redskins of his 
own diocese. In 1818, when 10,000 Indians were gath- 
ered at St. Mary's to make a treaty with the United 
States, Bishop Flaget was in their midst and remained 
there for a great part of the seven weeks taken up with 
the negotiations. 

At St. Mary's he met the government agent. Colonel 
Johnson, who, after Bishop Flaget's death, published his 
reminiscences of his relations with the prelate, which show 
how faithfully the latter practised M. Olier's principles. 
He avoided all controversy with non-Catholics, who 
treated him with the utmost respect. "His conduct," 
writes the Colonel, "throughout his sojourn with us was 
so marked by the affability, courtesy and kindness of his 
manners with the dignity of the Christian and gentleman 



STTLPIOIAK' MISSIONARY BISHOPS AND MISSIONARIES 155 

that lie won all hearts. Added to this, he possessed a fine 
proportioned and commanding person; few persons ex- 
celled him here, when in the prime of his years." On this 
occasion, too, he carried out the Sulpician views on the 
accumulation of money. When the officials had collected 
the sum of $100 (a large amount at that time), for a 
present to him, he positively declined to accept it. How 
deeply his dignified Christian bearing impressed non- 
Catholics appears on all occasions when he came in con- 
tact with them. 

As early as 1792, General George Rogers Clark showed 
him every attention at Yincennes. In 1814 Governor 
tilark of Missouri Territory, the partner of Lewis in his 
explorations of the Northwest, invited him to his house 
and prevailed on him to baptize his three children and to 
become their god-father. In 1818, on his way to Detroit, 
he was invited to be the guest of Mr. Anderson, the Con- 
gressman of that district, who was very kind to him. On 
June 2, 1818, when at Detroit, he received the visit of 
Governor Cass of Michigan and of General Macomb, who 
commanded the United States troops at Detroit. They 
showed him the greatest attention while he remained in 
that city, and he dined with them a week after their visit 
to him. In September of the same year, he was visited 
by Governor Jennings and Judge Park. On his return 
from Canada the same year the Governor-general of Can- 
ada met him on board the steamer and showed him every 
courtesy. It is interesting to find the bishop on board 
a Canadian steamboat so short a time after Fulton had 
built the first steam craft at !N"ew York, indicating as it 
does his progressive spirit. But it is needless to multiply 
these proofs of the great esteem in which Monseigneur 
Flaget was held by his non-Catholic contemporaries. This 
is further confirmed by the readiness with which successive 
Kentucky legislatures granted charters and similar privi- 



156 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

leges to the convents at Loretto and Nazareth at the 
bishop's request. 

The Dominicans who had settled in Kentucky prior to 
his appointment to the see of Bardstown were encouraged 
and helped by Bishop Flaget whenever he could do so. In 
1812, with the approval of the bishop, Father Nerinckx 
founded the congregation of the Sisters of Loretto, and 
about the same time Bishop David established the Sisters 
of Charity of I^azareth. Seven years later the Dominican 
Superior, Father Wilson, established the monastery of St. 
Magdalene, now called St. Catherine's. His zeal and fore- 
sight in securing candidates to the priesthood were proved 
by the establishment of two colleges, both at first run on the 
plan of St. Mary's College, Baltimore, with the help of the 
seminary students. These were St. Joseph's, under the di- 
rection of Father Elder, and St Mary's, under the direc- 
tion of Father Byrne. Monseigneur Flaget expressed his 
anxiety to have the assistance of the Society of Jesus in his 
diocese and in 1832 the president of St. Mary's College, the 
Very Keverend William Byrne, turned over his college to 
its care.^ 

Devotion and loyalty to the See of Rome is another tra- 
ditional principle in the Society of St. Sulpice. We 
should therefore look for it in the life of so thorough a 
Sulpician as Bishop Flaget. His struggle to escape the 
episcopal dignity has already been described, but at last 
Rome spoke and M. Flaget ceased his resistance. In 1825, 
when he thought of paying his ad limina visit to Rome, he 
first asked for the Pope's permission to leave his diocese. 
The Holy Father thought it wiser for him to stay at home 
and he did so. Ten years later he sailed for Italy. The 
impression his loyalty had made on Gregory XVI we may 
gather from the bishop's account of his first interview with 

1 Only two years before his death in 1848 he received into his diocese 
about forty Trappists from the Abbey of Melleray in France. He estab- 
lished them at Gethsemane, some eight miles from the city of Bardstown. 



SULPICIAN MISSIONAEY BISHOPS AND MISSION^ ARIES 157 

the pontiiF, who assured him that "he had followed all my 
footsteps from Havre till my arrival at E^me, that he was 
satisfied with my conduct, that I was a worthy successor 
of the apostles." 

It was at the request of the pontiff that he undertook to 
present the claims of the Society for the Propagation of 
the Faith to the people of France and visited no less than 
forty-six dioceses with this object. His success was both 
immediate and lasting. "Thousands and tens of thousands 
joined the pious Association ; and what was even far more 
consoling, piety revived and fervor was aroused under 
his preaching in the various cities and towns of France." 

When, after traveling through every part of France for 
the purpose of securing its aid for the American missions, 
his friends urged the venerable prelate (he was seventy- 
seven years of age), to remain with his relatives in Europe^ 
he asked the pontiff's advice. Gregory XYI, who had re- 
ceived many letters from the United States insisting on 
Bishop Flaget's speedy return, advised him to go back to 
his diocese. There was not a moment's hesitation. To 
his chaplain, who spoke to him of remaining in Europe, he 
declared, "I^o, no, my dear child ; I was already fully de- 
cided to do the will of the Pope, and if he had answered 
that I should neither remain in France nor return to 
America but should depart for China or join the Arch- 
bishop of Cologne,^ in case that venerable Confessor could 
find there a place for me, I should have departed on the 
instant." 

He did as he said and returned to his flock, reaching 
l^ew York on August 21, 1839. Thence he hastened to 
Bardstown and forthwith proceeded to carry out the 
Pope's last commission. He brought the pontifical bless- 
ing to his flock. The religious communities were the first 
to receive his visits, but he did not forget the great mass 

1 Clemens August von Droste-Vischering, who was then imprisoned in a 
Prussian fortress for maintaining the rights of the Church. 



158 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

of the faithful who were scattered over the State of Ken- 
tucky. During the next two years he traveled six hundred 
miles on horseback, bringing everywhere the papal blessing 
and being received almost like a messenger from heaven. 

Then he settled down at home, where he continued to 
exercise, for the advantage, not only of his own diocese 
but of the American Church in general, the great influ- 
ence which was the result of his noble, disinterested char- 
acter and of the confidence which both the American 
bishops and the Koman authorities placed in his wisdom. 
For his own diocese he secured colonies of the nuns of the 
Good Shepherd and of the Trappist monks and placed 
the Jesuits in charge of St. Joseph's College. But what 
especially engaged his attention was the transfer of the see 
from Bardstown to Louisville. This scheme he had laid 
before Gregory XYI when at Rome. The Pope referred 
the matter to the Congregation of Propaganda and some 
time after his return to Bardstown, in 1841, the bishop 
received the approval of this important step. 

He felt deeply the separation from Bardstown, the 
home of so many successful and happy years, where he 
was universally respected and reverenced, but time had 
shown that Louisville, not Bardstown, was the most im- 
portant city of the State. Though the time of removal 
had been left to his discretion, he did not hesitate long, 
being certain of his welcome in Louisville, where Catholics 
and Protestants were ready to aid him in building a new 
cathedral. Toward the end of the year 1841 he made 
Louisville his home. Eight years later, though ill, the 
bishop witnessed from the balcony of his residence the 
ceremony of laying the cornerstone of the cathedral, whence 
he gave his blessing to the thousands of his flock and his 
friends. He was not privileged to see its completion. 

The eighty-seven years of a strenuous and eventful life 
had done their work. His health began to fail, his body to 



SULPICIAN MISSIONARY BISHOPS AND MISSIONARIES 169 

grow feeble, his eyes to lose their power and the results 
of ancient accidents to revive. He could no longer read 
the office of the Church, and said his beads instead. He 
was no longer able to offer the Sacrifice of the Mass, and 
bowed his head in patience and submission. He could no 
longer give the benediction to the faithful, and unseen in 
his private gallery, he knelt to receive God's blessing. He 
always remained the simple, patient. God-fearing and 
God-trusting servant of the Lord, until he slept in peace 
amid the tears of his friends, the respect of his fellow 
citizens and the universal mourning of his flock. He 
passed away on February 11, 1850. 

The work done by Bishop Flaget, whether as a student 
in the Seminary or as a professor at Nantes ; whether 
in the land of his birth, or as an exile in the land of his 
adoption; whether as a missionary, or as a bishop, was 
inspired by the same thought. He wished to do his duty, 
to serve God and the Church. He did this consistently 
and strenuously and joyfully and wisely. Without desir- 
ing it, he won the admiration of men. With simplicity 
and without ambition he achieved great results. Without 
looking for it, he won the praise of his superiors and his 
wards, of the simple faithful and the Supreme Pontiff. 
But what most impresses us is his beautiful, inner Chris- 
tian life. To the diary which he kept from his youth he 
confided his inmost thoughts. Our readers will no doubt 
appreciate some of the spontaneous outbursts of the noble 
man which we cull from this book. The sight of Niagara 
suggested to him the torrents of grace God pours into 
men's hearts, which reject them like the hard rock. "Is 
not this the case with my own heart? O God! do not 
permit this!" he prayed. 

"My God ! how many thanks should I not render Thee, 
for having always given me a love for the life of the 
Seminary, in spite of the distractions in which I am forced 



160 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

to live!" His scrupulous desire to carry out the laws of 
God and tlie Church is expressed in the following: 
"Vouchsafe, O my God, to enlighten me, that I may do 
nothing to weaken the discipline of the Church ... in 
order to he found after my death among the faithful serv- 
ants." When throngs of people came to see him during 
his visit to Detroit in 1818, he exclaims: "O my God! 
What is there in me to rivet the attention of these people ?" 

In his report to the Holy Father, dated 1836, he thus 
expresses his love and solicitude for his clergy: "Oh! 
may God bless my clergy ! May He bless their continual 
sacrifices and generous devotedness, without which there 
would be nothing remaining of all that exists in my dio- 
cese! But, alas! these young priests soon become ex- 
hausted; on them old age and infirmities come prema- 
turely — the evident result of their long journeys and 
painful missions." 

His detachment from life in the world was ever in 
evidence but especially toward the end. To his friends, 
who often wished him better health and many more years 
of life, he constantly replied : "O no, pray not for a longer 
life, but pray for a holy and happy death." 

We shall close the story of Bishop Flaget^s life by lay- 
ing before our readers a picture of his diocese as he left 
it to his successor. When he went to Bardstown in 1810 
he found there but a single institution, the Dominican 
Monastery of St. Rose. At his death, the diocese had a 
seminary with nineteen students; a preparatory seminary 
with fifteen students, two priests and five teachers; a 
high school with thirty students; four colleges, one in 
the hands of the Jesuits; three religious Sisterhoods in 
charge of a large female orphan asylum, an infirmary 
and eleven flourishing academies for girls. Bishop Spald- 
ing does not mention the number of churches, schools 



SULPICIAN MISSIONARY BISHOPS AND MISSIONARIES 161 

and parishes, but we know that under the bishop's care 
they too had increased and multiplied. 



II — Right Reverend J. B. David, S.S. 

Bishop riaget's dearest friend and most faithful aid 
was his old Sulpician confrere, Bishop John Baptist 
David. The story of their friendship and collaboration 
is truly edifying and touching. Indeed; the life of Bishop 
David sheds new light on the life of Bishop Flaget. Still, 
the two men were in many respects quite unlike each 
other. Both were genuine Sulpicians, but while Bishop 
Flaget represents the best type of missionary Sulpician, 
Bishop David, though the coadjutor of his friend, was es- 
sentially the professor and such he remained till the end 
of his days. 

John Baptist David was a Breton, sturdy, heavily built 
and endowed with a vigorous intellect and a sympathetic 
heart. He was bom in 1761, near Nantes, and therefore 
was Bishop Flaget's senior by two years. After completing 
his classical studies he entered the Sulpician Seminary 
at Issy, where he was ordained in 1785. He then joined 
the Company of St. Sulpice, and taught philosophy and 
theology in various seminaries until these were broken 
up by the revolutionary disturbances in France (1791). 
He was one of the companions of M. Flaget in 1792 and 
thenceforth they were intimate friends. On his arrival 
at Baltimore, Bishop Carroll sent him to the lower part of 
Maryland, where he remained until 1803. He proved to 
be a zealous and active missionary priest and is said to 
have been the first to introduce in the United States mis- 
sions for lay congregations.^ However, he was not destined 
for missionary life and in 1803 we find him as professor 

^M. David resided at Lower Zacchla, now Bryantown, from which place 
he served Upper Zacchia. now St. Peter's. Waldorf and Mattawoman. 
We are indebted for this information to Rev. E. J. Devitt, S. J. 



162 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

at Georgetown, whence lie was soon transferred to St. 
Mary's, Baltimore. When Bishop Flaget went to Bards- 
town in 1810, M. David, who had volunteered to accom- 
pany him, went, hy M. Emery's directions, to Kentucky^ 
and was placed in charge of the new bishop's seminary. 
The seminary at first had only three students, who in ^ve 
years increased to fifteen, but the sturdy Breton president, 
who composed also the entire faculty, conducted their 
studies with as much regularity and system as if there 
had been a hundred. His seminary was a true Sulpician 
seminary. The next year the new seminary was trans- 
ferred from St. Stephen's to the farm of St. Thomas on 
the plantation given to Monseigneur Flaget by Mr. 
Thomas Howard, a devout and zealous Kentucky Catholic. 
Here M. David and the seminarians, whom their superior 
had imbued with the same devotion to their work which 
animated himself, while continuing their studies, built a 
new seminary, thirty feet square. Professors and students 
spent their recreation time in making bricks and erecting 
the building, which sufficed for twenty-five persons and 
could be heated so as to make it habitable in winter. The 
students had likewise a considerable share in the erection 
of the convent of the Sisters of ^Nazareth. They did not, 
however, on account of these labors neglect the prescribed 
lectures or seminary exercises. 

After the death of Bishop Egan of Philadelphia, in 
1814, M. David was appointed to that see. But miters 
had no more attraction for M. David than for the other 
Sulpicians and could not tempt him away from his beloved 
seminary. Subsequently he refused the diocese of ISTew 
Orleans. In 1817, however, he was appointed coadjutor 
to Bishop Flaget, but he remained loyal to his much be- 
loved seminary. He also had charge of some congregations 
in its neighborhood. 

An enterprise in which he took a special interest was the 



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Et. Eev. John Baptist David. 



SULPICIAX MISSIONARY BISHOPS AND MISSIONAEIES 163 

Sisterhood which is now so well known in Kentucky and 
the South as the Sisters of I^azareth. Like all institutes 
destined to flourish and to last, its beginnings were very 
humble. About a year after the removal of M. David's 
seminary to the farm of St. Thomas, i.e., in 1812, he 
undertook the direction of two pious women who wished 
to consecrate themselves especially to the service of God. 
Other ladies soon joined them. In Jime, 1813, when 
their community had increased to six, they started their 
organization in a brick building near the seminary on the 
old Howard farm. 

M. David undertook to draw up their rules, which were 
based on those of the Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent 
de Paul. These he modified so as to meet the needs of the 
changed circumstances, and the nuns dedicated themselves 
to the care of the sick and the teaching of the young. M. 
David's work turned out to be very practical and satisfac- 
tory. In 1822 the mother-house was transferred to Naza- 
reth, whence the congregation spread not only throughout 
Kentucky but over many States of the South and South- 
west. M. David continued to be the director of these 
good ladies after he became Coadjutor Bishop of Bards- 
town, until his failing health compelled him to relinquish 
to Bishop Reynolds of Charleston this work which had 
been his charge for upwards of twenty years and which 
had grown so dear to him. 

But M. David's principal -care always remained St. 
Thomas' Seminary. Until the building of the Bardstown 
cathedral in 1819 the seminary was his regular home, and 
here Bishop Flaget also had his residence and helped 
along the work of the seminary. Meantime the extent of 
the bishop's diocese, his manifold duties and his frequent 
absences from home, impressed on him his need of an as- 
sistant. Rome received his request for a coadjutor favor- 
ably and also approved M. David, the candidate he had 



164 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

suggested. The Bulls appointing him titular Bishop of 
Mauricastro were dated July 4, 1817. M. David used 
overy means to escape the promotion, pleading his inex- 
perience, his age, for he was the senior by two years of 
Bishop Flaget, and the fact that his having advocated the 
appointment of a coadjutor might seem to have paved the 
way to his own preferment. But the Roman authorities 
set aside these reasons and M. David yielded, but even 
then the old Sulpician was true to his calling, for he con- 
tinued to be the president of the seminary, directing the 
studies and delivering his lectures just as before. IN^or 
did his labors cease there, for he continued to supervise 
the work of the Sisters of l!^azareth, was at the same time 
the rector and the organist of the Bardstown cathedral, 
and served four adjoining missions, as well as that of St. 
Thomas, of which he had long been pastor. His heart 
always remained with the seminary work, which bore 
fruit a hundred-fold. Archbishop Spalding, one of his 
old seminary students, declares that the older clergy of 
Kentucky who were trained by him and who knew him 
well, long held his name in benediction. 

Laden with work but happy amid all his labors. Bishop 
David gave no thought to anything but his duties, when 
in 1832 he was suddenly upset by the arrival of a Bull 
appointing him Bishop of Bardstown to succeed Bishop 
Flaget who had resigned two years before, and the whole 
diocese shared his perturbation. Bishop Flaget was visit- 
ing Bishop Rosati at St. Louis, when he received Bishop 
David's letter announcing the news from Rome. He 
strongly protested against the change, and returned to 
Bardstown, accompanied by the Bishop of St. Louis. But 
the opposition of both the clergy and laity of the Ken- 
tucky diocese was so pronounced that the three bishops 
thought it best to bow before it. Bishop David offered 
Rome his resignation and Bishop Flaget placed himself 



SULPICIAN MISSIONARY BISHOPS AND MISSIONARIES 165 

at the disposition of the Holy See. As a consequence, 
after being Bishop of Bardstown for about a year, Mon- 
seigneur David's resignation was accepted and Bishop 
Flaget was restored. The faithful old coadjutor retired 
to his seminary where he remained until the condition of 
his health and the solicitude of his daughters of Nazareth 
induced him to seek recovery in the midst of the Sister- 
hood that he had founded. They lavished on him every 
attention, but the noble and intrepid soldier of Christ 
had finished his task. He died at Nazareth on July 12, 
1841. 

Bishop David was an indefatigable worker. He labored 
not only on the missions and among the Sisters of Charity, 
not only as a seminary professor and executive, but also 
as a writer. His writings, a list of which follows, were 
among the earliest fruits of the Catholic press in the West, 
and include several translations from the French : ^^Vin- 
dication of the Catholic Doctrine Concerning the Use and 
Veneration of Images," "Address to His Brethren of 
Other Professions," "On the Eule of Faith, True Piety; 
or, the Day Well Spent," and a Catholic hymn book. 

Bishop David, like men of his large and powerful build, 
was kind and good natured, though also of quick and emo- 
tional temperament. But his ire quickly passed away. 
He was strict with those under his charge but no less strict 
with himself. When in 1823 the first clerical retreat of 
the Bardstown diocese took place. Bishop David, fancying 
that he had been slighted in some matter, lost his temper 
and gave offense by his language. But before long he 
realized his mistake and nothing would satisfy the humble 
and contrite bishop but a public apology before the assem- 
bled priests. The incident produced a profound impres- 
sion among the clergy and increased the love and the re- 
spect of all. The simple characters of both Bishop David 
and Bishop Flaget were illustrated by another incident 



166 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

which occurred when both were advanced in years. !N'ot 
long before Bishop David's death, Bishop Flaget received 
from Europe a box containing pictures, beads and medals 
which was opened in the presence of Bishop David. The 
latter asked Bishop Flaget for some of these trinkets with a 
view to distributing them among his friends. With a smile 
on his lips Bishop Flaget answered : "You always ask me 
for something and never give me anything." Bishop 
David's reply was irresistible : "I have given you all that 
I have, I have given you myself," and he got what he 
asked for. 

Ill — Reverend Gabriel Richard, S.S.^ 

Among the gentlemen of St. Sulpice sent to the United 
States in 1792 was the Reverend Gabriel Richard. He 
was a young man only twenty-five years old and had been 
bom at Saintes in the department of Charente-Inferieure. 
His family was distinguished in the history of the Church, 
for it had given to France Bossuet, the eloquent Bishop 
of Meaux. M. Richard made his classical studies at his 
birthplace and then studied philosophy and theology un- 
der the Sulpicians at Angers. He joined the Company of 
St. Sulpice before his ordination, which took place at 
Issy in 1791. The Seminary at Issy was still open in the 
fall of 1791, and young Richard taught mathematics there. 
When the house was closed by the violence of the Revo- 
lution and the faculty was dispersed, M. Richard was 
sent to Baltimore and thus ended his career as a teacher. 

There being no work for him in the Baltimore seminary, 
Bishop Carroll sent him to the West to labor among the 
French Creoles and the Indians. On the way to his mis- 
sion, late in 1792, we find him at St. Louis with MM. 
Flaget and Levadoux. Thence he proceeded to Kaskaskia 

1 For a fuller biography of the Rev. G. Richard, see that by the Rev. 
John J. O'Brien in "Historical Records and Studies," vol. v, p. 77 sqq. 




URE S COLOR CO. 



PASTOR OF ST. ANNE'S CHURCH, DETROIT. 
1799 — 1S32 



SULPICIAN MISSIONARY BISHOPS AND MISSIONARIES 167 

and Prairie du Eoclier, to which missions Cahokia was 
added in 1796. At Kaskaskia he found a congregation 
of some eight hundred French Creoles, who were far from 
being models of virtue. The congregations at Prairie du 
Rocher and Cahokia, however, were much better. In 
Illinois and Indiana he worked with zeal and devotion 
until 1798, when, in company with M. Dilhet, he was 
called to Detroit to assist the Reverend M. Levadoux who, 
in 1801, was recalled to Baltimore and subsequently Re- 
turned to France. 

Detroit was a French settlement and the center of the 
local fur trade with the Indians. M. Richard's missionary 
work gradually extended also to Michilimackinac, Sault 
Sainte Marie and Arbre Croche, where there were Indian 
stations. M. Richard was therefore following closely in 
the footsteps of the gentlemen sent by M. Olier to Mon- 
treal. In 1802 when M. Levadoux left Detroit, M. Rich- 
ard became pastor of the old church of St. Anne, founded 
in 1755, and vicar-general of the Bishop of Baltimore. 
That the new pastor vigorously seized the reins is appar- 
ent from the fact that only a year after his installation 
no less than 521 members of his flock were confirmed by 
Bishop Denaut of Quebec. Then he took in hand the im- 
provement of education at Detroit, where hitherto hardly 
anything had been done in its behalf. In 1804 he opened 
an academy for girls with five instructresses. In the same 
year, in accordance with the spirit of the Sulpician Com- 
pany and the directions of M. Emery, he founded a high 
school for boys, or rather a preparatory seminary for 
young men. Here were taught Latin, geography, ecclesi- 
astical history. Church music and the practice of mental 
prayer. Probably he and M. Dilhet were the principal, 
perhaps the only, instructors. In 1805 Detroit was vis- 
ited by a great conflagration which swept away the greater 
part of the city and destroyed M. Richard's church and 



168 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

schools. Among the citizens of Detroit who assisted the 
city to rise from its ashes there was no more strenuous 
worker than the Catholic pastor. He gathered provisions 
for the unfortunate victims and secured the respect of 
all his fellow citizens, for in the distribution of his charity 
he made no distinction of class, nationality or creed, nor 
did he neglect the interests of education. Three years 
after the fire Detroit could boast of six elementary schools 
and two academies for girls. M. Richard was also eager to 
restore his high school, but we do not know how far he pro- 
gressed in his plans. We do know, however, that he ac- 
tively promoted the establishment of what has since become 
the University of Michigan. 

This was founded by act of the Legislature in the year 
1817 under the title of "Catholepistemiad," a name given 
to it by Judge Woodward. In spite of this handicap, and 
his thirteen didaxiims or professorships, it survives to 
this day as the University of Michigan. The president. 
Reverend John Monteith, a Protestant clergyman, held 
seven of these didaxiims and Father Richard, the vice- 
president, the remaining six. His yearly salary was 
$18.50. Whether he actually performed any of the duties 
of his didaxiims is not certain, but probable. At all 
events, the Catholepistemiad was short lived. In 1821 
the charter of 1817 was repealed and replaced by a new 
charter establishing the University of Michigan, of which 
M. Richard was one of the trustees. As he had a reputa- 
tion as an eloquent speaker he may well have lectured 
at times in the university. At all events, from 1807 he 
delivered addresses to his Protestant fellow-citizens in the 
council house. These were religious lectures, inculcating 
the fundamental principles of morality and Christianity, 
which tended to dissipate non-Catholic prejudice, and, no 
doubt, brought some of his hearers to the Catholic Church. 

About 1808 or 1810 M. Richard paid a visit to Balti- 



SULPICIAN MISSIONARY BISHOPS AND MISSIONARIES 169 

more.^ Ever attentive to the needs of his Michigan flock 
and convinced that it sadly needed good Catholic reading, 
he purchased a printing press, which was one of the first 
used in that State. He now became an editor and founded 
the "Michigan Essay," which, however, did not take root, 
its first number being also the last. E'evertheless, the 
printing press was not a failure, for it enabled M. Rich- 
ard to print a number of books, in both French and Eng- 
lish, dealing with religion and education, of which the 
reader will find a list in Father O'Brien's article.^ 

During the War of 1812 against England, M. Richard 
gave free expression to his patriotic attachment to his 
adopted country and thereby roused the wrath of the 
Canadian authorities, who had him arrested and im- 
prisoned at Sandwich. There he ministered to the reli- 
gious wants of England's Indian allies and saved some 
Americans from torture and death. 

A unique distinction fell to his lot in 1823. He was 
chosen delegate to Congress for the Territory of Michigan 
and was the only Catholic priest who ever sat in Congress. 
He performed his duties to the entire satisfaction of his 
constituents. The greater part of the salary that came to 
him as a member of Congress he devoted to the rebuilding 
of St. Anne's Church. He established Indian schools at 
Green Bay, Arbre Croche and St. Joseph's. He took an 
interest in the education of the deaf-mutes and in popu- 
lar education generally, for we find him delivering lectures 
before the students of the iN'ormal School of Detroit. In 
fact, he worked for every cause which advanced the civil 
and religious interests of the people of Michigan. In 
1832 this State, like other parts of the West, was visited 
by the cholera. Intrepidly, like Bishop Elaget, he stood 
at the bedside of the stricken and fell a victim to the per- 

iM. Richard was in Baltimore Dec. 30, 1808. He left for Detroit 
March 1, 1809 (Tessier's "Epoques"). 

^ "Historical Records and Studies," vol. v, p. 77 sqq. 



170 THE STrLPICIAN-S IN THE UNITED STATES 

formance of his duty. Judge Cooley, a non-Catliolic, 
spoke of him in words of marked eulogy. "Father Kich- 
ard," he said, "a faithful and devoted pastor under many 
discouragements, did what he found it in his power to do 
to restore or convert the people to Christianity and to 
moral and decent lives. He would have been a man of 
mark in almost any community and at any time." 



IV — ^RiGHT Eeverend William Valentine 
DuBouRa, S.S. 

In our fourth chapter we have traced the career of M. 
Dubourg while he was president of St. Mary's College 
Baltimore, until Bishop Carroll appointed him admin- 
istrator of the diocese of l!^ew Orleans. He thus became 
one of the Sulpician missionaries. His success as presi- 
dent of Georgetown and president of St. Mary's College 
was ample proof that Bishop Carroll had made no mis- 
take. His enterprise, his polished, attractive manners and 
his power to make friends fitted him to overcome the 
obstacles that he had to meet in his new position. His 
gentleness combined with prudence and determination 
promised solid achievements. 

The ecclesiastical administration of the part of the 
United States which was then included under the name of 
Louisiana was by no means an easy undertaking. It had 
become a part of the United States only eight or nine years 
before (1803), when l^apoleon, who had held the sov- 
ereignty for a few months only, had sold it to our govern- 
ment. For thirty-eight years prior to 1800 Louisiana 
had belonged to Spain, having been transferred to that 
power after the Seven Years' War, when France lost 
Canada and the rest of her colonies in the l^ew World. 
Under the French power, Louisiana was in its infancy. 
Its religious interests had been in charge principally of 



SULPICIAN MISSIONARY BISHOPS AND MISSIONARIES l7l 

the old Indian missionaries, mostly Jesuits, and the 
bishops of Quebec. Under the Spaniards the religious 
authorities also were changed and the War of Independ- 
ence had not helped to improve the moral and religious 
status of the inhabitants, whether Creoles or redskins. 

At IN'ew Orleans, on the southern bank of the Missis- 
sippi, more active communication with France had brought 
into the country the French literature and principles 
which had done so much to prepare the Revolution. Con- 
sequently religious fervor was not marked and religious 
practices were irregular. Owing in part to the repeated 
changes of administration, the clergy also had degenerated 
and ecclesiastical discipline had become relaxed. In 1763 
the Bishop of Santiago, Cuba, was charged with the ad- 
ministration of Louisiana. But before long it was found 
that a bishop residing in Cuba had but little authority 
over a clergy residing in Louisiana, especially as both 
clergy and laity, mostly French, had little sympathy with 
their Spanish superior. At the request of the Bishop of 
Santiago, therefore. Home, in 1772, appointed a resident 
coadjutor for iN'ew Orleans. His jurisdiction extended 
over the present States of Louisiana, Alabama, Florida 
and the banks of the lower Mississippi and Missouri. In 
the entire country there were seventeen parishes and 
twenty-one priests. ^Notwithstanding the small number 
of his subjects, the new coadjutor's administration proved 
no more successful than the bishop's and, what was worse, 
he did not agree with the bishop's views. In 1793 the 
trouble became so acute that Bishop Escheveria dispensed 
with the services of the coadjutor, who thereupon retired 
to Catalonia. 

Pius YI thought that to remedy the evil it was best 
to make Louisiana an independent see, and accordingly 
Don Penalver y Cardenas was named Bishop of ^ew 
Orleans. He was a good man and a wise governor. The 



172 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

evils he had to contend with were serious and ahnost in- 
curable. Keligious life was fast dying out. Of 11,000 
faithful in the cathedral parish only three or four hun- 
dred made their Easter duty. Less than haK attended 
Mass on Sundays. The religious character of marriage 
was ignored and concubinage was quite common. Add to 
this the general spread of the irreligious Erench literature 
of the eighteenth century and we can conceive without diffi- 
culty the troubles of the new bishop. Things grew worse 
and worse after 1801, in which year Bishop Penalver y 
Cardenas was transferred to Guatemala. His successor 
never reached his diocese, but died at Rome in 1802. The 
administration was then in the hands of a vicar general 
whose regularity was doubtful, and in 1804 this doubtful 
vicar general died. 

'New Orleans was in this state of religious anarchy 
when in 1805 the Holy See entrusted the administration 
of Louisiana to Bishop Carroll. He felt that a resident 
bishop was needed, and sent to Rome the names of Eather 
David and Eather iN'erinckx as men suitable for the new 
bishopric. But neither the one nor the other was ambi- 
tious for the honors of a miter. Some years of negotia- 
tion followed, which probably did not help to improve 
the situation in New Orleans. At last in 1812, at Bishop 
Carroll's suggestion, Rome appointed M. Dubourg admin- 
istrator, and he accepted the office reluctantly. Indeed his 
new field of labor was a far from inviting post. What 
has been said sufficiently suggests the disorderly, nay, al- 
most desperate condition of spiritual affairs at New Or- 
leans. But this was not all. At the gates of the city stood 
an English army ready to attack it. Surely, M. Dubourg 
was a man of great pluck and determination to accept the 
administratorship in spite of these obstacles. 

M. Dubourg's first steps at ^N'ew Orleans were no less 
energetic than had been his administration of St. Mary's 




Most Eev. William Dubourg, 
Founder and First President of St. Mary's College. 



SULPICIAN MISSIONARY BISHOPS AND MISSIONARIES 173 

College. Seeing the critical state of things, he appealed 
to his flock to support the American general, Andrew Jack- 
son, and insisted upon the duty and merit of patriotism. 
His words were not thrown away. General Jackson, hav- 
ing won the glorious battle of E'ew Orleans on January 
8, 1815, M. Dubourg invited him to assist at the Te Deum 
in honor of his victory. Jackson, who was no less im- 
pressed by M. Dubourg's eloquence than by his energy 
and patriotism, enthusiastically recognized the adminis- 
trator's services to the American cause. M. Dubourg's 
patriotic action impressed not only General Jackson but 
all the people of ^ew Orleans. 

However, so disordered had ecclesiastical affairs become 
in Louisiana that even before the administrator's arrival 
some of the clergy and laity of the city openly refused 
to recognize his authority. The leaders of the opposition 
were a Spanish priest named Anthony Sedella and two 
other seditious clergymen. When the administrator re- 
solved to put an end to these disorders by direct appeal 
to Rome and appointed Father Sibourd his vicar general 
during his absence, Sedella denied M. Dubourg's authority 
to name a vicar general. He succeeded in spreading the 
spirit of revolt throughout the city and diocese, and 
finally appealed to Congress to subvert the administra- 
tor's authority and vest the control of various parishes in 
boards elected by the congregation. M. Dubourg, natur- 
ally a man of moderation and ready to use every means 
to re-establish peace, plainly foresaw the failure of all 
his endeavors. It was high time for him to go to Home. 

At Rome he met with a warm and friendly reception. 
N"ot only were his views and plans received with favor, 
but he was appointed Bishop of ]^ew Orleans in accord- 
ance with Bishop Carroll's suggestion, immediately con- 
secrated (1815), and without delay began his labors for 
the development of his diocese. While it contained more 



174 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

priests perhaps than other parts of the United States 
there was also a larger flock to be cared for. Besides, 
many of the clergy were broken down by age and some 
of them were decidedly seditions. His first effort, there- 
fore, was to secure new missionaries, who by their zeal, 
energy and loyalty would change the face of affairs. Suc- 
cess was immediate. At Rome, he obtained the services 
of the distinguished Lazarist Fathers, de Andreis, Rosati 
and Aquaroni, as well as others of the same Congregation. 
In Belgium, too, he found a number of priests and semi- 
narians ready to follow him to the new world. His experi- 
ence at !N"ew Orleans had convinced him that the aid of 
some French Sisterhoods would greatly facilitate his mis- 
sionary work. He therefore brought with him from 
Europe nine Ursuline Sisters and a few Religious of the 
Sacred Heart, a new congregation recently founded by 
Madame Barat. The superior of this latter community 
was Madame Duchesne. When he reached Annapolis on 
September 4th, he was accompanied by five priests and 
twenty-six seminarians.^ 

The company, headed by the bishop, started westward 
at once, and finally reached Bardstown, where he was 
received with open arms by his Sulpician brethren, Bish- 
ops Flaget and David. The new bishop carefully consid- 
ered his plan of campaign. To go to !N'ew Orleans di- 
rectly was to invite riot and rebellion. Accordingly, he 
resolved to enter his diocese at its northwestern end, in 
other words, to go to St. Louis before returning to l^ew 
Orleans. In fact, he had prepared the way for this policy 
by asking Bishop Flaget, who was well known and popu- 
lar at St. Louis, to pay a visit to that city in 1817. Mon- 
seigneur Flaget had complied with Bishop Dubourg's re- 

iFrom September 10th to November 4th Bishop Dubourg resided at 
the seminary, where, on his arrival, the college students complimented 
their former president. During his stay he officiated pontiflcally at the 
cathedral, St. Patrick's church and the seminary chapel. Five of his 
students received orders at his hands, M. Bertrand being raised to the 
priesthood. 



SULPICIAN MISSIONARY BISHOPS AND MISSIONARIES 175 

quest, although in St. Louis, too, there were active ele- 
ments of opposition. But these disappeared during Bishop 
Flaget's visit. When Bishop Dubourg learned of this 
favorable turn of affairs, he decided to go to St. Louis 
forthwith, but thought it wise to ask Bishop Flaget to 
accompany him. In the latter part of 1817 the two 
bishops set out on their journey.^ At St. Louis the party 
was received with great enthusiasm and the bishop re- 
solved to make the city his home for the present and to 
proceed to ^ew Orleans gradually, thus avoiding any 
conflict with the seditious elements in his episcopal city. 
This plan was not only prudent but also in harmony with 
the gentle, peaceful character of the bishop and eventually 
proved eminently successful. 

The bishop's first care was the establishment of a dio- 
cesan seminary. The inhabitants of a place called The 
Barrens, not far from St. Louis, generously offered the 
needed ground and helped in the erection of the buildings. 
The institution was entrusted to the Lazarist Fathers un- 
der the presidency of Father de Lacroix (1818), and 
though at first there were but few students, their number 
grew from year to year and the seminary was a success 
from the beginning. 

The establishment of the Keligious of the Sacred Heart 
in the diocese progressed no less successfully. Three nuns 
arrived at ITew Orleans, May 30, 1818, and were at first 
settled at St. Charles, which place was, however, soon ex- 
changed for Florissant. As early as 1821 a second con- 
vent was necessary and was founded at Grand Coteau. 

Meantime the bishop had settled at St. Louis and built 
a cathedral. His activity was prodigious. He was erect- 
ing a cathedral, a church, a college and a convent simul- 
taneously and daily shared his meals with some twenty 

1 It is interesting to note that at Louisville they took a steamboat for 
St. Louis. This was less than ten years after the invention of steam navi- 
gation by Fulton. 



176 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

persons. The fare, however, it is needless to say, was 
plain and simple in the extreme, as was the episcopal fur- 
niture. A friend from 'New Orleans who saw the plain 
spruce cot on which the bishop slept was shocked and sent 
him a more respectable bedstead. Here is the bishop's 
letter of thanks : ^^My palace is too small and too shabby 
to admit so decorative a piece of furniture. You will, 
therefore, my friend, allow me to exchange it for some- 
thing more useful. Bread is what I need, I and my house- 
hold. Everything here is unreasonably high and I dare 
not treat myself to the smallest piece of furniture. Would 
you believe that we have but a single writing desk, which 
passes from one member of the household to the other. 
But this does not lessen my good humor." ^ 

Scarcely had he finished building his cathedral at St. 
Louis when he started out to visit his diocese. He now 
found the warmest reception everywhere, even to the very 
gates of !N'ew Orleans. The people not only helped him 
to build churches but offered him the ground on which 
to build them. The generous contributions of the Society 
for the Propagation of the Faith enabled him to gratify 
at once his own generous nature and the needs of the 
faithful. In a few years he had erected forty churches 
down the valley of the Mississippi from St. Louis to New 
Orleans. 

The zeal and the gentle spirit of the bishop produced 
their natural effects even among the rebels of New Or- 
leans. At first the chapel of the Ursuline convent suf- 
ficed to receive the entire loyal flock of the diocese under 
its vicar general, M. Sibourd. Gradually two churches 
opened their doors to the vicar general and the loyalists, 
and finally even Sedella showed signs of a change of heart. 
When in 1820 the bishop renewed his visitation, opposi- 
tion had disappeared. Six miles from INew Orleans he 

1 See Andre in "Bulletin Trimestriel," No. 52, p. 83. 



SULPICIAN MISSIONARY BISHOPS AND MISSIONARIES 177 

was met by a deputation of the faithful, headed by Vicar 
General Sibourd. Most notable among the party that 
came to welcome him was the converted rebel Sedella. 
They accompanied the bishop all the way to the city and 
took him to his cathedral, where he pontificated on Christ- 
mas Day, 1820. 

These visitations and missionary excursions were a fea- 
ture of Bishop Dubourg's life while his episcopate lasted. 
Many of them were far from being pleasure parties and 
sometimes were not without danger. In 1825 he paid a 
missionary visit to ^N'atchitoches, of which the letter of his 
companion, M. Anduze, gives us a graphic account. We 
subjoin a short extract: "On Tuesday, September 13th, 
we departed. M. Rossi had provided us with a guide 
and the necessary horses and kindly accompanied us for 
^ve miles beyond Opelousas. From this point began our 
expedition, properly so called. Our order was as fol- 
lows: 1st. The guide on horseback leading a mule with 
baggage by a long cord. 2d. Charles also on horseback. 
He had a whip to hurry his mule's pace. I came next 
and the Bishop closed the procession. Here we bade fare- 
well to mankind and buried ourselves in the desert. . . . 
On reaching the Bayou-Boeuf we were obliged to re- 
lieve the horses, who had the greatest trouble to cross 
the stream, though they carried only their saddles. But 
we were specially puzzled how to get out of our own 
troubles. ... I proposed to lunch on the opposite bank: 
the Bishop approved my proposal and wished to be the 
first to cross. The only means to cross the Bayou were 
two large trees which had broken loose from the two banks 
and lay top-to-top in the middle of the creek. This bridge 
had, moreover, the disadvantage of being covered by water 
more than one foot in depth throughout its length, so 
that all in all the crossing was quite dangerous. Our 



178 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

good Bishop, resting on the arms of the guide, undertook 
to face the difficulty. 

"But he had hardly reached the point where the two 
trees met when the uppermost tree on which the Bishop 
was crossing was upset and our two travelers stood up 
to the arm-pits in water. This shock, though violent, did 
not discourage him; he climbed on the second tree and 
with the guide's help reached the other bank. . . . He 
got only a few scratches of which the Bishop made very 
light. The guide and the negro carried the baggage as 
well as they could. Finally we took up our march in the 
same order as before. The path we followed was at most 
three or four feet wide and passed over boggy ground 
bristling with cypress roots ending in sharp points, on 
which we feared every moment to be thrown by the horses 
which drew up their backs to extricate themselves from 
the sticky mud; . . . We had scarcely escaped hence when 
we plunged into impenetrable thickets of reeds which, 
crossing in every direction, threatened to pierce us. . . ." ^ 
These were only the initial difficulties which they had to 
encounter before reaching Natchitoches. They suffice to 
show what were the enjoyments of missionary bishops 
at the time. 

Besides these parochial visitations, which took up a 
great part of the time. Bishop Dubourg was also an Indian 
missionary or rather the director of a great part of the 
western missions to the redskins. He came in contact with 
them for the first time in St. Louis in 1820 when the head 
chief of the Osages called upon him there. The next 
year he sent the Lazarist, Father de Lacroix to visit 
the Indians in their homes up the Mississippi. The fol- 
lowing year, he repeated his visit and penetrated fifty 
miles further west, beyond the homes of the Osages. Ac- 
cording to Odin he divided up the Indian missions be- 

1 See Andr6, loo. dt.. No. 53, pp. 21»-220. 



SULPICIAN MISSIONARY BISHOPS AND MISSIONARIES 179 

tween the Lazarists, who labored on the upper Missis- 
sippi, and the Jesuits, who evangelized the redskins on the 
banks of the Missouri. 

As to the Jesuits, M. Dubourg deserves the credit of 
not only founding the Indian missions later made famous 
by Father De Smet and his Belgian confreres, but of se- 
curing the services of these missionaries for the West. 
There had arrived from Belgium in 1821 a band of 
Jesuits consisting of Father De Smet and five others, some 
of them novices, and they had taken up their residence at 
Whitemarsh, Maryland. Various discouragements led 
them to think of returning to their native land, when 
Bishop Dubourg accidentally paid them a visit (1823). 
He was then engaged in negotiations with the Government 
at Washington relative to the Indian missions in Mis- 
souri and farther west. The Indian superintendent had 
received him with much favor and listened with approval 
to the project of sending to the redskins the blackrobes, 
for whom they had applied. As an earnest of this ap- 
proval the United States Government promised to pay 
$200 annually to each of four or five missionaries. The 
young Flemish Jesuits enthusiastically welcomed the pro- 
posed Indian mission, and agreed to transfer their novi- 
tiate to Florissant, near St. Louis, thus becoming the 
apostles of the Indians on the upper Missouri and farther 
west.^ 

Bishop Dubourg had thus successfully provided for the 
most urgent necessities of his extensive diocese. At the 
same time he felt that one man did not suffice to supply 
the needs of this widespread field of labor. Accordingly 
he had the distinguished Lazarist, Father Rosati, ap- 
pointed his coadjutor (March, 1824), and left to him the 
government of upper Louisiana, devoting himself espe- 
cially to "New Orleans. Here, however, he found that the 

1 Letter of M. Dubourg to his brother, March 17, 1823, in "Bulletin Tri- 
mestriel," No. 53, p. 214. Also letter of August 16, 1823, ibid., p. 215. 



180 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

old spirit of unrest had not yet died out. Believing that 
it might be easier for another to surmount the difficulties 
which met him here he sent his resignation to Eome. The 
Holy See, however, was unwilling to part with the serv- 
ices of so able a bishop. While his resignation was 
therefore accepted, he was transferred in 1826 to the 
see of Montauban in France, to succeed Cardinal Cheverus. 
For seven years he had presided over its destinies to the 
satisfaction of Rome and his flock, when he was promoted 
to the archbishopric of Besangon. He was not, however, 
to enjoy his new honors for long, being called to his re- 
ward on December 12, 1833. 

Bishop Dubourg was the author of "The Sons of St. 
Dominick" and of a pamphlet entitled "St. Mary^s Semi- 
nary and the Catholics at Large Vindicated," besides other 
controversial writings. 

Y — ^MosT Reverend Ambrose Marechal, SS. 

Until the year 1817 Sulpician missionary bishops had 
been appointed only for the western and southern sees of 
the United States. In that year, however, the archbish- 
opric of Baltimore was conferred on the Most Reverend 
Ambrose Marechal, a Sulpician, who for five years be- 
fore his promotion had been professor of theology at St. 
Mary's Seminary. Bom at Ingres in 1764, he pursued 
his classical studies at Orleans and then chose the law 
for his profession. Before long, however, he felt him- 
self called to the clerical state and entered the Seminary 
of Orleans where he pursued his theological studies under 
the Sulpicians. He was compelled to flee from France 
on the very day of his ordination and reached Baltimore 
with MM. Richard and Ciquard on June 24, 1792. He 
was sent by Archbishop Carroll to the missions in St. 
Mary's County and on the eastern shore of Maryland, 



STrLPICIAK" MISSIONARY BISHOPS AND MISSIONARIES 181 

where lie worked until 1799, when he was appointed pro- 
fessor of theology in St. Mary's Seminary. In 1801-02 he 
taught philosophy at Georgetown College and in 1803 M. 
Emery recalled him to France where there was a great 
want of Sulpicians in various dioceses. 

The expulsion of the Sulpician Fathers from the French 
seminaries by iN'apoleon in 1811 brought M. Marechal 
back to Baltimore and to his old position in St. Mary's. 
Here he gave himseK to his duties with heart and soul, 
and soon gained the confidence, not only of his confreres 
and scholars, but also of Archbishop Carroll. M. Mare- 
chal was not only a theologian of distinction but a scholar 
of great attainments in literature and mathematics, as 
appeared from the papers on the latter subject left by him 
at his death. He was a well-read historian and a man of 
general information. Moreover, his learning was always 
at his command, for he shone in conversation, shedding 
light on every subject which he discussed. Above all he 
was a charming gentleman, attractive, polite and kind, 
without pretension and full of consideration for others. 

That such a man should have riveted upon himseK the 
eyes of all who came in contact with him was natural. 
Accordingly, we find that in 1814 the American bishops 
with one voice recommended him for the vacant see of 
New York. Outside influences, as well as his own re- 
luctance and the efforts of his Sulpician brethren, saved 
him from what he looked upon as a heavy burden, but 
the trial was only postponed. On July 3, 1816, the Bulls 
appointing him to the see of Philadelphia as the successor 
of Bishop Egan reached him at Baltimore. Again he 
strove to avoid episcopal honors and made an earnest ap- 
peal to Cardinal Litta, the head of the Congregation of 
the Propaganda, to spare him the dreaded change. The 
cardinal appealed to him to submit, but as he did not re- 
quire submission in virtue of obedience, M. Marechal 



182 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

thought himself justified in persisting in his refusal, and 
escaped promotion the second time. 

But the relief was only temporary. The following year 
(1817) Archbishop 'NesHe felt that his health required 
him to ask Rome for a coadjutor, and proposed M. Mare- 
chal as his assistant. On July 4, 1817, the Roman au- 
thorities signed the Bulls appointing him coadjutor of 
Bishop iNTeale with the right of succession, and they 
reached the bishop-elect at Baltimore on ISTovember 10th. 
Meantime, however, Bishop ^Neale had been called to his 
reward. Monseigneur Marechal was therefore immedi- 
ately consecrated archbishop and took charge of the diocese 
without delay. 

He sought first of all to become well acquainted with 
his diocese. He therefore lost no time in visiting its vari- 
ous parts, but especially the cities of ISTorfolk and Charles- 
ton, which were distracted by unpleasant disorders. At 
Charleston the notorious Father Gallagher had for many 
years kept the faithful in a turmoil and usurped the rights 
of the lawful parish priest. Father de la Cloriviere; 
while at !N"orfolk the Dominican, Carbry, was causing 
no less trouble with the help of the parish trustees. Arch- 
bishop Marechal firmly opposed the usurpers, and by ju- 
diciously mingling authority with charity, succeeded in 
restoring peace and order. By his wise action in another 
matter which was disturbing the American Church, he de- 
served its gratitude for all times. 

Reference has already been made to the small number 
of the American clergy at the time Archbishop Carroll 
was named bishop in 1789, and to the difficulty of filling 
its ranks during the administration of Archbishop Carroll, 
notwithstanding all his efforts to build it up. It is true 
that besides the native clergy a number of priests from 
abroad had come into the country and that among them 
there were men of great ability and character. This is 



SULPICIAN MISSIONARY BISHOPS AND MISSIONARIES 183 

especially true of the priests who were expelled from 
France by the Terror. But as might be expected, some 
undesirable elements had likewise found their way to 
the United States, and they were to be found not only 
in "New Orleans, Charleston and Norfolk, but in Phila- 
delphia and N^ew York, where, as in the South, they exer- 
cised considerable influence among the laity, especially 
the trustees. 

!N^ow, when in course of time bishops were multiplied 
in the country, and Archbishop Carroll became head of 
a hierarchy, the question arose as to how the bishops 
were to be selected, of whom the country stood in need. 
Eome, of course, had the final appointive power, but who 
was to advise Rome in making the selection and from 
whom was the selection to be made ? At first Bishop Car- 
roll was the only bishop, and his remote situation made it 
desirable to have his judgment supported by others. Be- 
sides there was but a small number of candidates who pos- 
sessed the virtues and ability requisite in a bishop. 

It should be borne in mind, that of the priests laboring 
in the Lord's American vineyard there were two classes 
who, by their own choice, were excluded from the epis- 
copacy, and who were perhaps best qualified for its duties. 
These were the Jesuits and the Sulpicians. The Jesuit, 
as is well known, at his entrance into the Order promises 
to decline the episcopal dignity unless the Pope should 
give him a positive command to accept it. Besides, after 
its suppression, the Order had been re-established in the 
United States only since 1807. The elder members were 
therefore unavailable for episcopal sees because of their 
advanced age and the younger members because of their 
being relatively inexperienced. 

The members of the Society of St. Sulpice, though not 
bound by positive vows to refuse the episcopacy, promise 
on entering the Society to avoid ecclesiastical dignities. 



184 THE SULPICIAI^S IN THE UNITED STATES 

and the entire history of the Company proves how thor- 
oughly in earnest its members were in making this prom- 
ise. Even in the youthful American Republic, the Sul- 
picians who were raised to the episcopal dignity accepted 
it only after positive unwillingness. This was true in the 
cases of Bishops Flaget, Dubourg and David, and Arch- 
bishop Marechal himself had given repeated proofs of 
the same disposition before his final elevation to the see 
of Baltimore. 

When the far from numerous secular clergy offered a 
suitable candidate, as was the case with M. Cheverus, 
who was consecrated Bishop of Boston in 1810, Rome did 
not hesitate to raise him to the episcopal rank. Rome^s 
attitude was the same towards such regulars as possessed 
the requisite qualifications and were resident in the coun- 
try, and who were not prevented by their vows from ac- 
cepting the bishopric. Thus she named the Franciscan, 
Father Egan, Bishop of Philadelphia in 1810, and the 
Dominican, Father Edward D. Fenwick, Bishop of Cin- 
cinnati in 1822. But when in 1808 a bishop was to be 
nominated for the new see of 'New York, the Roman au- 
thorities conferred the dignity on the Dominican, Father 
Luke Concanen, who resided at Rome and had never been 
in the United States. When Bishop Concanen died in 
iN^aples (1810) before being able to reach his see, his 
successor was the Dominican, Father John Connolly, a 
resident of Rome, who was equally unacquainted with his 
future field of activity. Dr. Henry Conwell, Vicar Gen- 
eral of Armagh, Ireland, was appointed Bishop of Phila- 
delphia in 1820, although he was a stranger to the United* 
States. Similarly Dr. Patrick Kelly, president of Birch- 
field College, Kilkenny, Ireland, was selected to be Bishop 
of Richmond, Virginia, in 1820. He was not only a 
stranger to the United States, but at his consecration in 
Europe took the oath of allegiance to George III. At the 



SUIiPICIAN MISSIONARY BISHOPS AND MISSION ABIES 185 

same time the distinguished and able Bishop England, 
who had up to that time been president of the Cork semi' 
nary, was promoted to the recently created see of Charles- 
ton. He, however, positively refused to take the oath 
of allegiance to the King of England tendered to him at 
the time of his consecration. 

Thus it is evident that a few years after Monseigneur 
Marechal was raised to the see of Baltimore and about 
the time he set out for Eome on his ad limina visit in 
1821, four out of eight American bishops had been ap- 
pointed to their sees without having seen the country 
which they were to govern. No doubt it was not unusual 
at Rome to send to missionary countries bishops who were 
strangers to their sees before their appointment, but the 
United States could not be placed in the same class as 
China and Japan. Moreover, in some cases, the prelates 
sent had proved to be unacceptable to the government of 
the United States, because they were subjects of the power 
with which the United States had recently been at war. 

When, therefore. Archbishop Marechal reached Rome 
in 1821, he drew the attention of the Propaganda to these 
considerations and to the fact that from the beginning of 
the American hierarchy Archbishop Carroll had urged 
that American appointments should be recommended by 
members of that hierarchy. He showed so much tact and 
ability in pleading his cause that the Pope and the Propa- 
ganda were readily convinced of the wisdom of the policy 
advocated by him. "We admit," said the Archbishop in 
a memoir to the Sovereign Pontiff, "that we have no right 
to present candidates for the episcopacy, but unquestion- 
ably someone must nominate them. Who then will be able 
to know the candidates worthy of being entrusted with 
such important missions ? Strangers can not claim to be 
acquainted with the needs of the country." ^ 

1 Andre in "Bulletin Trimestriel," No. 54, p. 365. 



186 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

The principles then suggested by the Archbishop of 
Baltimore have ever since regulated the selection of bish- 
ops in the United States, and the Church of the United 
States has recognized his service to its true interests. 

On the same occasion, he drew the attention of the Ro- 
man prelates to the controversy on the rights claimed by 
lay trustees to control the church property in the United 
States, and the Sovereign Pontiff issued some rules on the 
subject, which tranquillized the troubles for the time but 
did not settle them definitely. His visit to Rome, there- 
fore, proved most beneficial to his diocese and the entire 
American Church. He returned to Baltimore at the end 
of 1822. 

Before leaving for Rome, Archbishop Marechal had the 
satisfaction of consecrating his new cathedral (May 21, 
1821). This then much admired specimen of architecture 
was in a way especially the work of the Sulpicians. 
When, because of the expense. Archbishop Carroll hesi- 
tated to select the spot on which it now stands, the memo- 
rial of MM. ^agot, Tessier, David, Babad, Flaget and 
Dubourg led him to waive his objections. In 1821 the 
people of Baltimore saw the beautiful structure finished 
and Archbishop Marechal dedicated it to God's service to 
the great satisfaction, not only of the Catholics, but of the 
Protestants as well. 

During his stay in Rome the archbishop, in order to 
encourage the seminary, had induced Pope Pius YII to 
erect it into a papal university by a brief dated April 18, 
1822. By way of showing its hew rank, the degree of 
Doctor of Theology was conferred on the Reverend M. 
Whitfield, Yicar General of Baltimore; M. Deluol, one 
of the professors in St. Mary's Seminary, and M. Dam- 
phoux, the president of St. Mary's College, on January 
25, 1824. Clearly the archbishop had not forgotten his 
old confreres of St. Sulpice and was determined to 




Most Eev, Ambrose Marechal, 
Third Archbishop of Baltimore. 



SULPICIAN MISSIONARY BISHOPS AND MISSIONARIES 187 

strengthen his seminary by every means in his power. He 
conferred these degrees at a solemn function in the new 
cathedral, which made a great impression on the people. 
With a moderation which is so distinctive a quality in the 
Company of St. Sulpice, St. Mary's Seminary has seldom 
exercised the prerogative. 

Having settled to his satisfaction all the disorders and 
troubles which faced him at the beginning of his episco- 
pate, Monseigneur Marechal ruled his flock in peace after 
his return from Eome. Throughout his diocese every- 
thing promised progress, and elsewhere, in every part of 
the new E^public, the Church gave evidence of prosperity. 
He did not, however, fail to see that this prosperity would 
bring new problems, and planned to summon a great Pro- 
vincial Council to provide for future needs, and especially 
to secure the regular and uniform development of the 
American Church. He was not in favor of premature 
action, however, and thought it wise to postpone summon- 
ing this Council. But in the year 1826, while giving 
Confirmation at Emmitsburg, he was taken with an ill- 
ness which soon developed into the fatal disease of which 
he died on January 28, 1829. His death was regretted 
by all the citizens of Baltimore and the people of his dio- 
cese. 

YI — Eight Reverend John Dubois, D.D. 

Right Reverend John Dubois, D.D., third Bishop of 
E'ew York, is an old acquaintance. A cultured Parisian 
gentleman, he was forced, a few years after his ordina- 
tion, to leave France; was introduced by La Fayette to 
many distinguished Virginians, such as President Monroe 
and Patrick Henry; was a zealous missionary in Mary- 
land and founder of Mount St. Mary's College, Emmits- 
burg. In 1826 when the Papal Bulls took him away from 



188 THE SULPICIAI^S IN THE UNITED STATES 

his beloved Mountain College which he had twice rebuilt, 
he was sixty-three years old and a vigorous, clever and 
affable man, whom President Andrew Jackson pronounced 
the most perfect gentleman he had ever met. He had 
been a Sulpician for seventeen years, and though the cir- 
cumstances of the last year had severed his connection 
with the Sulpician Company, he remained a Sulpician in 
spirit. As an old confrere he made a preparatory retreat 
before consecration at St. Mary's Seminary, Baltimore. 
He bore with him to !N"ew York the friendly sympathy of 
the Sulpicians and the best wishes of the Maryland people, 
among whom he had spent so many happy years. The 
aged Charles Carroll of CarroUton presented him with the 
episcopal ring. The new cathedral at Baltimore, where 
he was consecrated by Archbishop Marechal, was filled 
with throngs of well-wishers, and yet the man who had 
been specially selected to convey the good wishes of his 
future flock bade him no friendly welcome, but prophe- 
sied evil days for the bishop on that festive occasion. 
The Eeverend Mr. Taylor, who was guilty of this remark- 
able piece of bad manners, had the good sense to resign 
the following week as the pastor of the !N^ew York ca- 
thedral and betook himself beyond the Atlantic. 

Still, Mr. Taylor's greeting foreboded unpleasant days 
for the new Bishop. There were in "New York at this time 
ambitious men who craved for undeserved honors. They 
had been a thorn in the side of the late Bishop Connolly, 
and they did not hesitate to charge Archbishop Marechal 
with intriguing to fill the diocese of New York with his 
friends, to accuse the Bishop-elect of vulgar ambitions and 
to impute to the Society of St. Sulpice a spirit wholly un- 
known to it. But though the archbishop and bishop and 
the Sulpicians generally repelled these unworthy insinua- 
tions, the new prelate was doomed to taste the fruits of 
this malicious spirit. On the Sunday following the con- 



SULPICIAN MISSIONARY BISHOPS AND MISSIONARIES 189 

secration, Bishop Dubois preached in his cathedral in Mul- 
berry Street. He strove to impress upon his flock that 
he was animated by nothing but benevolence toward them, 
and especially assured them of his broadmindedness, 
which saw no difference between the children of St. Louis 
and the children of St. Patrick. His friendly words could 
not dispel the spirit of suspicion and malevolence. The 
writer has met ladies and gentlemen who knew the old 
bishop, who had the pleasure of entertaining him at their 
homes, and who still kept the room in which they gave him 
hospitality exactly as it was when he was their guest. 
They bore witness enthusiastically to the kind, noble and 
generous character of the bishop, and scorned the idea 
that there was in him anything unworthy or insincere; 
and such testimony as they gave agreed with that of the 
men and boys of the Mountain College and with the rec- 
ord which the bishop had made for himseK in Maryland. 
We cannot dwell at length upon the pettifogging attempt 
to annoy the good prelate, which was due principally to 
the clergy of his own cathedral, such as Father Levins, a 
clever but erratic man. The troubles were the sequel, 
partly of the disorders under Bishop Dubois' predecessor, 
and partly of the doings of small spirits, some of whom 
were narrow rather than wicked. Suffice it to say that 
these annoyances did not interfere with the efficiency of 
the Bishop's administration. 

Immediately on his accession, he showed that he was 
determined to do his duty to the full. Forthwith he 
made excursions to the New Jersey part of his diocese 
and to the neighborhood of the metropolis, dedicating 
churches, encouraging the clergy and inspiring the laity. 
When he had become familiar with the situation in the 
neighborhood of 'New York he set out to acquaint himself 
with the more distant parts of the diocese. Alone and 
unattended, the old gentleman went, by way of the Hud- 



190 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

son, to Albany, to central New York, ^nd to Buffalo, 
preaching, hearing confessions and administering the Sac- 
raments. At Buffalo he strove to settle the quarrels that 
had arisen between the pastors and their flocks. He even 
visited the only Indian colonyln his diocese and induced 
the redskins to give up some of their claims. To this 
visitation, which covered 3,000 miles, he devoted four 
strenuous years, not without greatly impairing his health. 

From the beginning of his administration he gave his 
attention to the problem of providing good and loyal pas- 
tors for his flock. The great diocese had no seminary, 
and his means were of the scantiest, but this did not dis- 
courage him. He determined during his visit to Kome 
(1831) to lay this essential need before Pope Pius VII 
and request his assistance. The Holy Father had a sym- 
pathetic heart and an open purse for him. From his 
scanty means he furnished him the sum needed to buy the 
land required for his first seminary at ITyack on the Hud- 
son. The work of building went on apace; the faculty, 
including the priest who later became the first American 
cardinal, was already selected and had taken possession 
of the new home of learning ; an attractive new chapel had 
been built; the old Knickerbockers who had looked with 
suspicion on their strange new neighbors, had not only 
become reconciled but friendly, when one fatal night the 
seminary became the prey of the flames and the Bishop 
saw his most cherished plans doomed to disappointment 
(1834). 

Nothing daunted by this disaster, a year or two later he 
appealed to his clergy and laity to further this necessary 
work and to spare no personal efforts to provide the much 
needed seminary. In 1838, he bought the fine mansion 
of M. John Lafarge, of Lafargeville in Jefferson County, 
to be the home of a new seminary which was to provide 
education, not only for students of theology, but for those 



STJLPICIAiq^ MISSIONARY BISHOPS AND MISSIONARIES 191 

pursuing secondary studies in general. The success of 
Mount St. Mary's College had convinced him that he might 
expect the same in a place distant from !N'ew York.^ But 
though the new home of learning was most attractive, its 
inconvenient location wrecked it, and St. Vincent de 
Paul's Seminary of Lafargeville died after a year. When, 
however, in consequence of declining health, Bishop Du- 
bois had received the assistance of a coadjutor in the per- 
son of John Hughes, who, as a pupil of the Mountain 
Seminary, was equally convinced of the need of a semi- 
nary and college for the great diocese of I^ew York, 
the coadjutor, in the name of the bishop, bought and or- 
ganized St. John's Seminary and College at Fordham in 
1841. This measure, which was in harmony with Bishop 
Dubois' seminary policy, was taken but a short time be- 
fore the old prelate's death. 

This request for a coadjutor had been made in 1838. 
Bishop Dubois had been approaching old age when ap- 
pointed to the see of l^ew York. His three visitations 
of his diocese had worn down and finally broken his health, 
which had been also impaired by the constant annoyances 
already referred to. But in spite of these drawbacks and 
of the disaster which foiled some of his best intentioned 
efforts. Bishop Dubois' administration proved a blessing 
to the diocese. He encouraged the Sisters of Charity 
whose director he had so long been at Emmitsburg. He 
was the founder of hospitals and orphan asylums, 
of which, in his days, the Catholics stood in sore 
need. The Catholic places of worship grew under him in 
number and in beauty; Catholic education was fostered 
with a loving hand; Catholic publishers started up, and 
periodical literature was encouraged and grew in influ- 
ence, for those were the days of the "Truth Teller," found- 
ed by Messrs. Pardow and Demnan just before the bishop's 



192 THE SULPICIANS 11^ THE UNITED STATES 

accession. This progress was made in a few years, not- 
withstanding the fact that the times were marked by the 
first outbreak of Protestant bigotry, which threatened the 
liberty of the Church and the existence of its institutions. 
But the veteran who had seen the days of the French 
Terror was not daunted by these new gadflies, which could 
not thrive in American air, and besides he had placed 
at his side his old Emmitsburg pupil, the vigorous, stout 
and fearless John Hughes, who was destined to inaugurate 
a new era as the first Archbishop of IsTew York. 

In 1838 the masterful old prelate determined, in spite 
of his years and his infirmities, to make another visita- 
tion of his diocese. The will was there but the strength 
of the bishop was fairly exhausted. He had suffered re- 
peated paralytic strokes which weakened him both men- 
tally and physically. The attention of Eome had been 
called to the situation and in August, 1839, two months 
after his return to "New York from his last visitation, 
Archbishop Eccleston of Baltimore was commissioned to 
announce to him the decision of the ecclesiastical authori- 
ties. It transferred the administration of the diocese 
from shoulders unable any longer to bear their burden 
to the vigorous shoulders of the young coadjutor. Bishop 
Hughes. At first the old prelate could not realize the 
blow which had fallen upon him. His mental weakness 
took the form of obstinacy and he could not reconcile him- 
self to abandon the exercise of authority to which he had 
been accustomed for a lifetime. But gradually he grew 
conscious of his own feebleness and retiring from all pub- 
lic life he prepared himself for the end by exercises of 
devotion, for he had ever been a man of exemplary piety. 
Daily he celebrated the holy sacrifice and even on the day 
which summoned him to his reward he was not obliged 
to forego this much valued privilege. He died in the Lord 



SULPICIAN MISSIONARY BISHOPS AND MISSIONABIES 193 

on December 20, 1842, with a gentle smile on his lips, 
after invoking the holy names of Jesus, Mary and Joseph.^ 

iFor a fuller account of Bishop Dubois' administration see the article 
on Bishop Dubois, by Charles G. Herbermann, in "Records and Studies," 
vol. 1, p. 278 sqq. 



Chaptee VIII 

St. Maey's Seminary 

the administration of m. deluol, 1829-1849 

It is time to return to the history of St. Mary's Semi- 
nary, the mother institution of the Company of St. Sul- 
pice in the United States. When we spoke of it last, we 
reported the arrival in 1829 of M. Carriere at Baltimore 
as visitor representing M. Garnier, the superior-general 
in Paris. He had come at the invitation of M. Tessier, the 
aged superior of the American Sulpicians, and was to 
examine into the condition, not only of the seminary, hut 
of the entire Society in the United States. For M. Tes- 
sier, besides being the head of the seminary, had authority 
over all the members of the Society, whether employed 
in seminary or in missionary work. 

The visitor, M. Carriere, was a very distinguished mem- 
ber of the Company of St. Sulpice in France. He had 
the entire confidence of the superior-general, M. Gamier, 
and knew his views. That he possessed the confidence 
of all the French Sulpicians also, appears from his stand- 
ing in the French Company of St. Sulpice, for he was 
not only a scholarly theologian but held the place of Vicar- 
general of Paris, and subsequently (from 1850), that of 
superior-general of the entire Society. Of course, when 
he arrived at Baltimore, he was received with the honors 
due to his position, not only by the Sulpicians, but also 
by Archbishop Whitfield, who invited him to share in the 
deliberations of the first Council of Baltimore. What was 
the mission of this distinguished gentleman? According 

194 



ADMINISTRATION OF M. DELUOL, 1829-1849 195 

to the wishes of M. Tessier and M. Gamier he was to ex- 
amine into the American branch of St. Sulpice, and not 
only to report thereon to M. Gamier, but he was also 
to take such immediate steps as the situation suggested. 
The first consequence of his mission was M. Tessier's spon- 
taneous resignation of his office and its acceptance. The 
reason of this step was sufficiently plain. The old superior, 
for he was now seventy years of age, had already repeated- 
ly asked in vain to be relieved of his duties and may have 
foreseen that his age ill-fitted him to inaugurate the 
changes demanded by the times. But M. Tessier's with- 
drawal was only the first result of M. Carriere's mission, 
to appreciate which it will be necessary to review in brief 
what St. Mary's Seminary and its dependencies had be- 
come. 

From the year 1826, when the Sulpicians gave up the 
College of Mount St. Mary at Emmitsburg, only two in- 
stitutions remained under the control of the Company, 
St. Mary's Seminary and St. Mary's College. In these 
twelve members of the Society were employed, including 
M.« Tessier, the superior. The other members were MM. 
Damphoux, Deluol, Lhomme, Elder, Randanne, Wheeler, 
Knight, Hoskins, Joubert, Chanche, Hickey and Eccles- 
ton. MM. Deluol and Lhomme with M. Tessier formed 
the faculty of the seminary, the other gentlemen being offi- 
cials of St. Mary's College. To the seminary was attached 
a beautiful chapel which had practically become a par- 
ish church for that district of Baltimore. The gentlemen 
of St. Sulpice also assisted at the Sunday services at the 
Cathedral together with the seminary students, and some 
of the priests acted as directors of St. Joseph's Convent, 
Emmitsburg (the community of Mother Seton), and of 
the Oblate Sisters of Providence, which community was 
then in process of formation. Several of the older mem- 
bers of St. Sulpice, such as Monseigneur Flaget and Mon- 



196 THE SUIiPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

seigneur Dubois, had. become bishops, and were therefore 
independent of the Society and in no wise subject to the 
rule of its superior. 

St. Mary's Seminary had measurably progressed. Its 
spirit was excellent, as is shown by the subsequent career 
of the seminarians. It numbered some twelve or fifteen 
students at this time. To M. Carriere this appeared a 
small number as compared with the French seminaries, 
and especially because the education of seminary students 
according to the tradition of St. Sulpice, was primarily 
the only work of the Sulpicians. 

If he now looked at the other Sulpician institution in 
Baltimore the visitor could not fail to be pleased with its 
prosperity. St. Mary's College numbered some two hun- 
dred students whose work was entirely satisfactory to its 
patrons. Unquestionably the nine members of St. Sulpice 
who directed the institution were accomplishing a useful 
and much appreciated task. But to M. Carriere, who saw 
with the eyes of MM. Olier and Emery, this work, though 
excellent, was not the true work of St. Sulpice. In 1826 
the Society gave up the Mountain college, because it con- 
tinued to teach theology. This action logically constrained 
them to surrender the college at Baltimore, and this with 
all the more reason, since the latter diverted the energies 
of a larger number of members from their primary work. 

But it may be questioned whether the dictates of logic 
were the dictates of common sense. To abandon the col- 
lege was to leave the seminary without a feeder and was 
therefore to condemn it to death. M. Carriere saw that 
inasmuch as the solemn contract with the Legislature of 
the State bound them to maintain the college for at least 
thirty years, that is to say, for eight years longer, it could 
not be given up immediately, while at the same time there 
must be no delay in restoring St. Sulpice to its ideal 
purity. St. Mary's College was a necessary evil for some 




Very Kev. Louis Eegis Deluol, 
Third Superior of St. Mary's Seminary 



ADMINISTEATIOIf OF M. DELUOL, 1829-1849 197 

ten years longer, but meantime, the preliminary steps 
might be taken to establish a genuine lower seminary after 
the ideal of St. Sulpice. Moreover, the parish work of the 
Fathers and their spiritual direction of other religious 
communities must be gradually given up, and the weeds 
which had crept into the Sulpician garden must be rooted 
out. After carefully examining the prospects and the 
possibilities of the Sulpician work in the United States, 
M. Carriere looked for the man best suited to carry out 
the reforms and improvements which he had in mind. 
His choice fell upon M. Deluol, the oldest of the French 
Sulpicians and the principal professor of theology in the 
seminary, 

Louis Eegis Deluol, a native of St. Privat, near Aube- 
nas, Vivarais, was bom on June 16, 1787. During the 
French Revolution his parents concealed a priest, the Rev- 
erend M. Bernard, in their house for a year and a half, 
during which time young Deluol daily served his Mass, 
an experience which made a profound impression on the 
boy. Having made his collegiate studies at the College 
of Aubenas, he entered the seminary of Viviers (1807), 
which was in charge of the Sulpicians. Before being or- 
dained he was appointed professor of philosophy, which he 
taught while awaiting Napoleon's permission to take Holy 
Orders. This arrived in 1811. He was raised to the 
priesthood on December 21st of this year, shortly after 
the suppression of the Society of St. Sulpice by l^apo- 
leon's order. The following years were a troublesome time 
for the French seminaries, owing to the political disturb- 
ances, during which M. Deluol gave proof of his fear- 
lessness and firmness against unjust interference. After 
the re-establishment of the Sulpicians under Louis X YIII, 
M. Deluol became a member of the Company and entered 
the novitiate at Issy on October 26, 1816. The following 



198 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

year he set sail for the United States and reached Balti- 
more on the 24th of October. \Nl\L 

He had hardly time to settle doWn in the seminary when 
he began his classes of theology on IsTovember 12th, lec- 
turing to ten students. Henceforth he was a very busy 
man, teaching theology and philosophy, and from October 
7, 1819, was also business manager of the seminary. He 
proved himself a skillful man of affairs. Energetic and 
practical, he gained the confidence of his superiors and 
confreres, and was of much service in straightening out 
the financial troubles between the seminary and the Em- 
mitsburg college. Combining great charm of manner with 
sound judgment, he was loved and respected by all with 
whom he came in contact. Many years after his return 
to France streams of American friends came to see him 
at St. Sulpice, to consult him on matters of importance 
or to show him that time had not been able to extinguish 
the affection which they had conceived for him in the 
United States. Finally, he was a man of unusual learn- 
ing, well versed in both philosophy and theology and a 
Hebrew scholar of note. 

It was no wonder that M. Carriere felt convinced that 
M. Deluol was the very man to smooth over difficulties 
and to realize the plans on which he and the superiors 
of the Society laid so much weight. At the meeting at 
which M. Deluol was named superior by M. Carriere, he 
gave expression to the most kindly sentiments for all and 
promised in every way to promote harmony in the Com- 
pany. In accordance with the visitor's views he resigned 
his position as confidential counselor of Mother Seton's 
nuns, who were then known as the Sisters of St. Joseph, 
naming Father Hickey to fill his place. As regards the 
substitution of a real lower seminary for St. Mary^s Col- 
lege, the new superior forthwith set to work to realize the 



ADMIinSTKATION OF M. DELUOL, 1829-1849 199 

schemes of the visitors and M. Gamier, and circumstances 
greatly favored his initiative. 

In the year 1801, when the Federalist party retired 
from power, Charles Carroll of CarroUton withdrew from 
political life. The leisure time which was now at his 
disposal he devoted to literature and philosophy and es- 
pecially to religion. He dwelt at his Manor of Doughore- 
gan. Even as early as 1799, the gentlemen of St. Sulpice 
became, so to say, the chaplains of the Carroll house, say- 
ing Mass there at least one Sunday in each month. Among 
the chaplains who successively officiated at the Carroll 
manor were MM. Gamier, Flaget, David, Dubourg and 
Marechal. These gentlemen, especially the last, became 
the intimate friends of the old statesman. Archbishop 
Marechal continued his friendship after his elevation to 
the see of Baltimore and Mr. Carroll had an open ear for 
his suggestions. 

As a former confrere, the archbishop was naturally a 
warm friend of the Sulpician Company and strove by 
every means to further its interests, which he considered 
the interests of the diocese. What was needed by the 
diocese and his former confreres, he thought, was a lower 
seminary, and Mr. Carroll seemed to him the man to pro- 
vide it. As the archbishop felt his end approaching he 
was unable to visit Doughoregan Manor as often as ber 
fore, but he found an ally and advocate of the preparatory 
seminary in Miss Caton, later Mrs. Mactavish, the be- 
loved granddaughter of the old statesman. To her the 
archbishop trusted the cause that he had so much at 
heart. Toward the middle of 1828, half a year after 
Monseigneur Marechal's death, the plans took definite 
shape and she proposed to her grandfather to give the dio- 
cese a part of the Doughoregan Manor. But to this Mr. 
Carroll, who felt that it was his duty to keep the hereditary 
estates of the family intact, strongly objected, and Miss 



200 THE SULPICIAN^S IN THE UNITED STATES 

Caton did not urge the point. After the Archbishop's 
death^ the friendship between the signer and the Sulpi- 
cians continued as before. M. Tessier and M. Deluol and 
other gentlemen of St. Sulpice were not unfrequent visit- 
ors at Doughoregan Manor. In fact, according to M. 
DeluoFs diarj, when the visitor sent by M. Garnier came 
to Baltimore, one of the first visits he paid in company 
with MM. Tessier, Eccleston and Deluol, was to the old 
signer, by whom they were received with the utmost kind- 
ness and courtesy. 

^Nevertheless, Miss Caton did not forget her promise to 
Archbishop Marechal. In the fall of 1829 she proposed 
that her grandfather devote a different plot of ground situ- 
ated near Doughoregan Manor, on the other side of the 
road to Frederick, to the same purpose. "Oh, yes," said 
Mr. Carroll, "that plot does not come to me from my 
forefathers; I bought it myself; I can therefore give it 
away without impairing the Manor. Besides, I noticed 
that in the old deeds it is called ^Marye's Plot.' Well, 
since it bears that name, I can give it to the Church for 
the purpose you suggest." ^ So he had the plans drawn 
immediately and on January 21, 1830, he sent them to the 
directors of St. Mary's, asking whether they were suitable 
for a preparatory seminary such as they thought of estab- 
lishing. Mr. Carroll next asked the Legislature of Mary- 
land for a charter for the proposed college, which was 
granted readily on February 3, 1830, and on the following 
day he sent a copy to the Sulpicians. This gave to the -Q-yo 
trustees named in the charter, to wit, MM. Deluol, 
Chanche, Elder, Tessier and Eccleston, the property in 
question and authorized them to acquire new property, 
fixing the maximum income at six thousand dollars. The 
purpose for which this property was to be held was the 
education of young Catholics preparing for the priesthood. 

^ Gosselin, op. dt.^ vol. ii, p. 39. 



ADMINISTEATIOI^ OF M. DELTJOL, 1829-1849 201 

On the deatli of any of the trustees the remainder were to 
fill the vacancy by electing a Catholic clergyman who was 
a citizen of the United States. On March 27th Mr. Car- 
roll drew up the deed of trust and sent it to M. Deluol, 
along with fifty shares of the United States Bank for 
the construction of the buildings. To this sum, M. Adol- 
phus Williamson added $3,000, to provide cut granite for 
the fagade, and the Congregation of the Propaganda at 
Rome donated 500 crowns. 

The comer-stone was laid in 1831 by Archbishop Whit- 
field, in the presence of the venerable Charles Carroll 
and of a great crowd of interested Catholics. M. Deluol, 
as president of the Board of Trustees, did his best to push 
forward the work of erection. According to his diary, 
while the building was in course of erection he made fre- 
quent visits of inspection to St. Charles' College, and on 
one of these, which took place October 12, 1831, he dined 
with Mr. Carroll. He observes that the latter was full 
of 'humor and quick witted, though at the time ninety- 
four years of age.^ 

M. Carriere returned to Europe October 20, 1829. Of 
course, he reported the good news of Mr. Carroll's dona- 
tion. In accordance with the request of the Baltimore 
brethren he hastened to send over two more members of 
the Sulpician Company, MM. Verot and Fredet, to 
strengthen the Society in the United States. 

But all the zeal of M. Deluol and all the good will of 
the French Sulpicians failed to achieve the end they so 

1 Mr. Carroll was not fated to see his college finished. M. Deluol in his 
diary gives us an account of his death which shows how close the rela- 
tions of the signer to the Sulpicians were to the end. We quote from the 
diary : 

"Nov. 7th. M. Chanche gave the last rites of the Church to Carroll, the 
Signer. 

"Nov. Uth. Mr. Carroll died at 4 a. m. in the arms of Mrs. Mactavish, 
in the presence of Mr. and Mrs. Caton, also of M. Chanche, who gave him 
the plenary indulgence in articulo mortis. 

"Nov. 17th. Remains of Carroll transferred to the Manor. The Gover- 
nor of Maryland used his fist to quiet a man who was under the influence 
of liquor. 'You can rule both with your head and with your fist,' said I to 
the Governor." 



202 THE SULPICIAIS'S IN THE UNITED STATES 

ardently desired. The outside of St. Charles' College was 
indeed finished, but the interior remained uninhabitable, 
the trustees not having the money to finish it. In vain 
M. Deluol and Archbishop Eccleston appealed to the So- 
ciety for the Propagation of the Faith. In vain the prel- 
ate, as he tells us, went from door to door to collect the 
needed sum. At last in 1840 the prospect seemed to im- 
prove, when the Reverend M. Piot, pastor of EUicott City, 
offered his entire savings, $6,000, for the completion of 
the preparatory seminary, on condition that he should be 
supported in his old age. But the sum offered only suf- 
ficed to pay the debts and to make a few improvements in 
the interior of the house. In fact, the enterprise lay dor- 
mant until 1848, when it was again set in motion. 

If we seek for the causes which paralyzed the activity 
of the new lower seminary. Archbishop Eccleston in a let- 
ter to the Society for the Propagation of the Faith tells 
us it was lack of funds and lack of the "personnel" to con- 
duct the new institution. We must bear in mind that the 
funds required were not only for the completion of the 
building, which was a mere trifle, but that being done, it 
was necessary to pay for the maintenance of the buildings 
as well as for the teachers and the maintenance of the stu- 
dents. Experience has taught us that it is much easier 
to build a parochial school than to maintain it. We must 
remember that the number of Catholics in the archdio- 
cese of Baltimore, as well as in its suffragan dioceses, was 
comparatively much smaller before the great immigration 
of 1846 set in. Indeed many of the suffragan sees cannot 
maintain a seminary at the present day, not to say a 
seminary and a lower seminary. 

Archbishop Eccleston's statement that the opening of 
St. Charles' was delayed for want of the needed "person- 
nel," may refer both to the students and to the professors. 
The Sulpicians could not supply the number of teachers 



ADMUq-ISTRA-TION OF M. DELUOL, 1829-1849 203 

needed to fumisli the faculties of both St. Mary's and St. 
Charles' colleges, especially as one of the purposes of cre- 
ating St. Charles' was to put an end to the system of em- 
ploying seminarians as subordinate instructors in the 
colleges. The immediate suppression of St. Mary's was 
out of the question, since it was impossible to pay the fine 
which M. Dubourg, in the name of the Company, had 
agreed to pay, if the college were given up in less than 
thirty years after its chartering. Moreover, it would be 
a great injury to the students and their parents to wipe 
St. Mary's College out of existence without providing a 
place where the young men might continue their studies, 
and such a place was not in prospect before thb foundation 
of Loyola College by the Jesuit Fathers. 

Hence, the personnel of which Archbishop Eccleston 
spoke probably referred to the students as well as to the 
instructors. A few years before the opening of St. 
Charles' the great immigration due to the Irish famine 
began. This increased the Catholic population, as well as 
the need of priests on the one side and the candidates for 
the priesthood on the other. It is plain, therefore, that 
the conditions for the success of St. Charles' College had 
considerably improved between 1832 and 1848. We need 
not be surprised, therefore, that M. Deluol could not 
achieve in that year what was accomplished by Father 
Jenkins sixteen years later. 

In the seminary, however, M. Deluol proved himself 
an energetic superior and a vigorous man of progress. In- 
deed he showed himself to be the very man for the posi- 
tion. He was a splendid executive and represented the 
university before the Church and the country most ac- 
ceptably. Of his executive ability from the financial point 
of view he had given proofs for more than ten years. His 
learning as a theologian, a philosopher and a linguist, se- 
cured for him the respect of the most distinguished men 



204 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

in Church and State. He enjoyed the entire confidence of 
Archbishop Whitfield and was the intimate friend of 
Archbishop Eccleston. In fact, he followed the old Sul- 
pician tradition of standing well with his episcopal su- 
periors. To Archbishop Eccleston he was attached by 
special bonds of friendship, for in 1843 he accompanied 
that prelate on his long visit to the West. In 1844 he 
conducted the funeral rites for Mrs. Stenson, the Arch- 
bishop's mother, and by his will Archbishop Eccleston 
appointed his long and faithful Sulpician friend one of 
the executors of his last testament. 

With the other members of the American hierarchy 
he was on equally confidential terms. When Bishop Du- 
bois was called to rest in 1842, M. Deluol was one of the 
first churchmen to whom Bishop Hughes wrote the intel- 
ligence, and when differences of opinion arose concerning 
the Sisters of Charity in "New York the matter was ulti- 
mately settled between the bishop and M. Deluol. In 
1844 Bishop Kenrick of Philadelphia fled from his epis- 
copal city, under the threats of the Native American move- 
ment which had laid some of the Philadelphia churches in 
ashes. He took refuge with M. Deluol at St. Mary's Semi- 
nary and was received with open arms. Among other 
bishops whom the hospitality and fame of the president 
drew to St. Mary's were Bishop Fenwick of Boston, his 
colleague as promoter of the first Council of Baltimore, 
the Canadian, Bishop Charbonnel, and the future Bishop 
of Charleston, Dr. Lynch. He was also on terms of friend- 
ship with Dr. Purcell of Cincinnati, Dr. Whelan of Rich- 
mond, and Dr. Timon of Buffalo. Before Bishop Barron 
went to start the American mission in Liberia, he, as well 
as Father Kelly, was the guest of M. Deluol, and Father 
De Smet received the privilege of holding a collection for 
his Indian missions at St. Mary's. 

We find M. Deluol equally respected and honored by the 



ADMINISTRATION OF M. DELUOL, 1829-1849 205 

most celebrated statesmen and scholars of his day. His 
friend, General George Stewart, introduced him to the 
greatest contemporary American man of letters, Washing- 
ton Irving, and Mr. J. P. Kennedy to the greatest orator, 
Daniel Webster. In 1841, ISTapoleon's adjutant-general, 
Bertrand, who had accompanied the emperor to Elba and 
St. Helena, paid a visit to St. Mary's. 

The French scientist, Nicollet, who spent several years 
in this country on a mission from his government, often 
advised M. Deluol as to the best means of improving the 
scientific course in his institutions, and when he was in 
his last illness, the president of St. Mary's offered him the 
consolations of religion. Professor James Hall, the emi- 
nent 'New York geologist, visited M. Deluol just before 
his conversion in 1837. These names, probably only 
a few of many equally distinguished visitors, we have 
culled from M. Deluol's diary, but they are sufficient to 
prove the vdde range of his influence in the Church, in 
scientific and in social circles. 

It must not be thought that the president of St. Mary's 
Seminary neglected his immediate duties in order to ex- 
tend his personal influence. The picture drawn by his 
diary in his relation to the students of the seminary is 
uncommonly attractive. In the house, he was full of 
sympathy with the seminarians, loved to exchange a joke 
with them, and did not disdain an occasional use of slang. 
He accompanied the seminarians on their weekly tramp, 
and when a festival or some special occasion took them to 
a picnic, he was frequently with them. Though not born 
in the United States, M. Deluol was a staunch American. 
Year after year, we find that he took his students and fac- 
ulty out to some country place to celebrate Independence 
Day, not only looking after the feast of reason and the 
flow of soul, but also providing for their bodily comfort. 
Two of the places which are especially mentioned by him 



206 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

as scenes of their holiday sports are Gable's Fountain, 
and Cromwells', and it cheers one's heart, even seventy 
years later, to see how well he provided for his seminari- 
ans. On July 4, 1839, he took his company, consisting 
of six priests and nine seminarians, out to Gable's Foun- 
tain. To supply their corporal wants, seven loaves of 
bread, ten chickens and half a ham were provided. When 
Pigeon Hill was sold by the college authorities, he saw to 
it that the seminarians found a new place for summer 
excursions at St. Charles'. 

During the early part of his regime, the archaeological 
researches which later on affected the curriculum of many 
seminaries had barely begun, and even church history 
as a separate branch of theological study was but slightly 
emphasized in them. But M. Deluol carefully scanned 
the progress of theological learning and the needs of his 
institution. We are not surprised, therefore, to learn that 
Hebrew was one of the subjects taught in the Baltimore 
seminary, M. Deluol himself, who was a well-versed He- 
braist, delivering the lectures on this subject. M. Fredet, 
whom M. Carriere had recently sent to Baltimore, was 
the professor of church history. His volumes on ancient 
and modem history made his name almost a household 
word among Catholic American college students during 
the second half of the nineteenth century.^ The students 
of philosophy in the seminary were not forgotten. M. de 
Courson, the Sulpician head of the ITantes seminary, had 
expended his private fortune to provide a course in science 
for the seminarians ^ of ISTantes in Brittany. M. Deluol 
instituted a similar course in St. Mary's under the Sul- 
pician, M. Yerot, who taught here for many years with 

1 Besides these histories, M. Fredet published the following works : "In- 
spiration and Canon of Scripture," "Original Texts and Translations of 
the Bible," "Interpretation of Scripture," "Necessity of Baptism," "Effects 
of Baptism and the Obligation Attached to It," "Lay Baptism and Doc- 
trine of Exclusive Salvation," "A Treatise on the Eucharistic Mystery." 

2 See Th6baud, "Three Quarters of a Century," in "Records and Stud- 
ies," vol. i, p. 204 sqq. ; and p. 209 sqq. 




Charles Carroll^^ 
of Carrollton. 



ADMINISTRATION OF M. DELUOL, 1829-1849 207 

mucli distinction, until lie was appointed Vicar Apostolic 
of Florida in 1858. M. Verot soon became a correspond- 
ent of the Smithsonian Institution and a friend of Pro- 
fessor Henry. With M. Nicollet, of the French Bureau 
of Longitude, who came to the United States in 1832 and 
represented his department until his death in 1843, M. 
(Verot cultivated social and scientific relations. The col- 
lege in consequence procured a transit, refracting and 
reflecting telescope and other scientific instruments. In 
1842 by the advice of M. ITicollet, a magnetic observatory 
was erected on the seminary grounds. 

The courses in theology continued to be given witH 
much distinction and the reputation of the seminary in- 
creased from year to year. The number of students did 
not greatly increase during M. DeluoFs administration, 
but their quality, as shown by their subsequent careers, 
entitles them to the greatest credit. Of the thirty-six 
priests ordained during this period five were raised to 
the episcopate, viz.: Bishop McGill, of Eichmond (1850- 
72) ; Bishop Loughlin, of Brooklyn (1853-91) ; Bishop 
Bacon, of Portland, Me. (1855-74) ; Bishop Foley, of Chi- 
cago (1870-79), and Bishop Edgar P. Wadhams, first 
Bishop of Ogdensburg. Bishop McGill was a publicist of 
note. At Louisville he edited the "Catholic Advocate," 
in which he wrote a series of controversial articles which 
produced a great impression. His other works were: 
"The True Church," "Faith the Victory," a criticism of 
Macaulay's "History of England" and a translation of 
Audin's "Life of John Calvin." In 1840 Keverend John 
B. Gildea was chosen president of the Catholic Tract So- 
ciety of Baltimore, a society founded to throw light upon 
Catholic doctrine and history. 

Prominent among the publicists sent forth from St. 
Mary's Seminary during M. DeluoFs administration was 
the Reverend Charles I. White, who was ordained in 



208 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

1830, having graduated from St. Mary's College in 1823. 
Between 1843 and 1845 he again resided at St. Mary's, 
where he taught, and two years later made the seminary 
his home while preparing his examination for the degree 
of D.D., which was awarded to him by the faculty of the 
seminary. For twenty-three years, i.e., from 1834 to 
1857, he was the editor of the "Catholic Almanac." In 
1842 he founded and edited the "Eeligious Cabinet," 
which, however, lived for one year only. It was replaced 
in 1843 by the "United States Catholic Magazine" which 
to this day is one of the most important sources of Cath- 
olic contemporary history. On its demise in 1849 
it was replaced by the "Catholic Mirror," a weekly jour- 
nal which lasted until 1908. In 1853 Father White pub- 
lished a Life of Mother Seton. He rendered a great serv- 
ice to the Catholic cause by translating Balmes' famous 
work entitled "Protestantism and Catholicism Compared 
in Their Effects on the Civilization of Europe" (ISTew 
York, 1850), which was Ifollowed by a translation of 
Chateaubriand's "Genius of Christianity" (1856). In 
1857 he became pastor of St. Matthew's Church in Wash- 
ington, a place which he filled with distinction until his 
death in 1877. 

Dr. John H. McCaffrey, for forty-four years president 
of Mount St. Mary's College, Emmitsburg, was an orator 
of mark, whose funeral orations on Bishops Dubois and 
Brute are spoken of as models of this kind of eloquence. 
His published works include a series of lectures delivered 
before the Philomathean Society of Emmitsburg, and 
before the Catholic Association of Baltimore, as well as a 
series of catechisms. 

The Reverend Edward Knight and the Reverend John 
Hoskins, who were ordained respectively in 1830 and 
1832, joined the Company of St. Sulpice and became 
prominent professors at St. Mary's College. The Very 



ADMINISTEATIOIT OF M. DELUOL, 1829-1849 209 

Reverend Henry Coskery, who was vicar-general under two 
Archbishops of Baltimore and refused the see of Portland, 
Maine, was a classmate of Father Starrs, whom all ISTew 
Yorkers of the middle of the last century will remember as 
the vicar-general of Archbishop Hughes. 

A scholar will appreciate at once the value of the 
donation received by St. Mary^s Seminary in 1845, when 
Mr. Adolphus Williamson bequeathed his valuable library 
to the Seminary. This was the same Williamson who had 
already earned the gratitude of the Sulpicians by his 
contribution to St. Charles' College. 

However, the government of St. Mary's Seminary did 
not by any means exhaust the activity of M. Deluol. 
Though he turned over the directorship of the Sisters 
of St. Joseph to Father Hickey, the protectorship of the 
Sisterhood officially remained with him as the Superior 
of the American Sulpicians, the details of his administra- 
tion being given in Chapter IX. 

During the administration of M. Deluol, from 1829 
to 1849, the first seven Provincial Councils of Baltimore 
were assembled. In all of these the Sulpician Fathers, 
and especially Father Deluol, took part, which entailed no 
little work on their part. M. Deluol was the theologian 
of the Archbishop of Baltimore at all of the Councils and 
played an important role in their transactions. It is in- 
teresting to find that even in 1833, the Council discussed 
the foundation of a national seminary which, in a way, 
found its realization in the Washington Catholic Uni- 
versity. In 1843, he was a member of the committee to 
which the difficult question of church property was en- 
trusted. In 1846 and 1849, the Council discussed the 
question of defining the Immaculate Conception as an 
article of faith, and on both occasions M. Deluol read a 
report on the subject, being evidently considered espe- 
cially fitted to give his advice on this important matter. 



210 THE SULPICIAIS^S IN THE UNITED STATES 

On other occasions, we find him discussing the questions of 
clandestine marriages and of the illicit character of such 
societies as the Odd Fellows and the Sons of Temperance. 
It is easy to see that the preparation of such important and 
difficult subjects must have required much learning and 
considerable time. 

In the year 1847 the name of one of the Sulpicians ap- 
pears in the Maryland law courts in connection with a case 
which contributed to settle a most important point con- 
cerning religious liberty in the United States. M. Hickey, 
one of the veteran professors of St. Sulpice, was cited 
before the court to testify before a jury concerning a sum 
of $14,000 restitution money received by him in con- 
fession. The learned professor declined, like Father Kohl- 
mann in 'New York, to violate religious liberty by violat- 
ing the secret of the confessional. 

On March 16, 1845, M. Gamier, the superior-general 
of the Sulpicians, departed this life after filling that 
high office for nineteen years. He had been the last sur- 
vivor of the little colony, sent by his Company to Balti- 
more in 1791. After his return to France in 1803, he 
had continued to take the liveliest interest in his American 
brethren and their fortunes, and he had been especially 
urgent with his brethren at Baltimore to give up all em- 
ployments not strictly connected with clerical education, 
and with that purpose in view had sent M. Carriere to the 
United States in 1829. At that time, however, many in- 
superable obstacles had prevented the Sulpicians from 
surrendering their parochial work connected with the 
seminary and their patronage of the Sisters of St. Joseph, 
Emmitsburg, as well as from giving up St. Mary's Col- 
lege. Matters remained in this condition during the life- 
time of M. Gamier. 

After his death, M. de Courson, the superior of the 
Sulpician house at Issy, was chosen his successor. The 



ADMINISTRATION OF M. DELUOL, 1829-1849 211 

new superior determined to take immediate steps to 
harmonize the American houses of the Company with 
those of France. This determination of M. de Courson 
imposed many sacrifices and many changes on the Ameri- 
can Sulpicians. It required them to give up duties and 
relations which had become endeared to them and to the 
persons concerned: to cut the ties which bound them to 
the Sisters at Emmitsburg, to sever their connection with 
the numerous French and English congregations that loved 
to worship at the seminary, above all, to give up St. Mary's 
College, which had become a flourishing institution and 
one which through its alumni was influential in the civil 
affairs of Baltimore and Maryland. The American Sul- 
picians, as it might be supposed, deeply felt these sacri- 
fices, though some of them had been foreseen many years 
before. Above all, their superior, M. Deluol, must have 
felt the sacrifice, yet it was he who worked with his usual 
zeal and prudence to place the supervision of the Sisters 
of Charity in the hands of the Lazarists. It was he who, 
next to Archbishop Marechal, had labored most for the 
creation of St. Charles\ It was he who, in 1837, imme- 
diately after the expiration of the period during which 
the Sulpicians, according to their pact with the Maryland 
Legislature, were obliged to maintain St. Mary's College, 
entered into negotiations with the Jesuit superiors for 
the sale of the college, which negotiations, it is true, came 
to nothing. 

In 1848 his opinion on the prospects of St. Charles' and 
the advisability of transferring St. Mary's College seem 
to have undergone a change. He expressed grave doubts 
as to the success of St. Charles', as a prudent man 
might very well have done. The great Irish immigration 
was of but very recent date and had touched Baltimore 
to only a slight extent. Though M. Deluol himself had, 
through his relations with the 'New England bishops and 



212 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

the Sisters of Charity, paved the way for the extraordinary 
help which !N"ew England gave to the success and pros- 
perity of St. Charles', more than a prophet's eye was re- 
quired to foresee this in 1848. As a matter of fact, the 
Baltimore superior was mistaken, being but human, but 
he was not obstinate. On September 26, 1848, he records 
in his diary; "The Archbishop calls and is determined 
to open St. Charles' College; I do not believe in the 
success of the enterprise but since the Archbishop wants 
it, it shall be done." M. Deluol had therefore approved 
of Father Jenkins' appointment to the presidency of St. 
Charles' before the Archbishop informed the latter of 
it on September 29th. At all events after the 26th of 
September the Baltimore superior is found acting wholly 
in sympathy with the archbishop.^ This appears from 
another entry in his diary, dated October 30th: "The 
Archbishop, his two acolytes, Coskery and Hickey, dined 
here with M. Raymond and O. L. Jenkins. The dinner 
is given in honor of the latter, who is to start to-morrow 
to open St. Charles' College." We shall speak of the 
success of St. Charles' in a future chapter. 

M. Deluol's activity at Baltimore was not destined to 
last much longer. On the one hand, his health had, under 
the influence of age and trials, shown symptoms of weak- 
ening, and on the other hand, M. de Courson thought it 
wise to write the American superior to leave the scene of 
his thirty years' work. He was thus obliged to give up 
his occupations, his interests, his friends. It was, no 
doubt, a severe blow for the old gentleman, but he did not 

1 Some remarks of M. Falllon, who came to Baltimore as M. de Cour- 
son's oflacial visitor, on April 21st of the year following, have been inter- 
preted to mean that Archbishop Eccleston was offended by M. Deluol's 
stand on the question of opening St. Charles', But the archbishop was 
not the man to take offense with his old teacher for respectfully express- 
ing his opinion, and M. Deluol's submission as expressed in his diary 
would surely satisfy any superior. Moreover, the two gentlemen remained 
on the same friendly footing as before, and what is unquestionably deci- 
sive, when in 1851, the archbishop died at Georgetown, M. Lhomme tells 
us in his diary, under date of May 12, 1851 : "In a paper found to-day, 
the late archbishop appointed administrators : first, Deluol ; second, Ray- 
mond ; third, Coskery." 



ADMINISTRATION OF M. DELUOL, 1829-1849 213 

quail. M. Faillon remained in Baltimore five months, 
when he started for Montreal. 

M. Deluol departed for Paris December 7, 1849. He 
did not leave the land of his adoption without an expres- 
sion from his many friends of all ranks, clerical and lay, 
showing the esteem in which they held him. His confreres, 
the Emmitsburg Sisters, the many social friends who had 
so often entertained him and his seminarians, from the 
Jenkinses to the Cromwells, crowded round to bid him 
an affectionate godspeed, and above all his dear sem- 
inarians, the companions of his walks and his enjoyments, 
whether in the house or on holiday celebrations, the ob- 
jects of his daily prayers, bade him a most affectionate 
and sincere farewell and wished him many years of use- 
fulness in the land of his birth. They did not stop here. 
For the remaining years of his life they pursued him 
with letters and rejoiced him with their visits. His diary 
lovingly records the number of American letters, reach- 
ing sometimes as many as twenty in a month, which 
showed him that he was not forgotten in the land for 
which he had labored with heart and brain, and which 
followed his life to the end. 

Among the friends who visited him at Issy or at Paris 
we find the new Archbishop of Baltimore, the learned 
Archbishop Kenrick, accompanied by his friend, the fu- 
ture Coadjutor Bishop of Chicago, Father Foley. In 
the years that succeeded, we notice among his visitors 
Archbishop Hughes, with his friend Bishop McNeirny of 
Albany; Bishop de Goesbriand of Burlington; Arch- 
bishop Blanc of l^ew Orleans ; Bishop Timon of Buffalo ; 
Bishop Amat of Monterey and the saintly Bishop Neu- 
mann of Philadelphia. It would take up too much space 
to record all the priests and laymen from the United 
States who paid him their respects, but we cannot refrain 
from mentioning the name of a distinguished Englishman 



214 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

who sought his advice and his friendship after his con- 
version. This was Mr. Eobert Wilberforce, the partisan 
of Pusey, the friend of !N"ewinan, the son of the man who 
abolished the African slave-trade, and the brother of the 
distinguished and eloquent Bishop of Oxford who was 
known as "Soapj Sam." 

But M. Deluol was not the man to spend his days in 
receiving the homage of his friends. For two years after 
his return to France, his health needed much attention 
and care. Then he resumed the life of the disciple of M. 
Olier and became professor of Hebrew in the Paris sem- 
inary. Here his ability was such as to permit him to 
teach Hebrew together with M. Le Hir, the greatest He- 
brew scholar whom the Company of St. Sulpice has pro- 
duced, and the man to whom Ernest Kenan owed his He- 
brew scholarship. Occupied with his favorite studies, and 
planting the seeds of learning in the Seminary of St. Sul- 
pice, he spent in useful work the evening of the life which 
had been so eminently fruitful to two continents. One 
joyous event above all made him happy during the latter 
days of his life. In two Councils of Baltimore, he had 
striven with might and main, with all the powers of his 
intellect and the vigor of his will, to move the American 
bishops to approach the Holy See with the petition that 
the Church should proclaim the dogma of the Immaculate 
Conception. In 1854, he saw his dearest wish gratified 
and we can sympathize with the triumphant reception 
which he gave to this glorious news in his diary. 

His death, like his life, was that of a pious Christian 
and a model priest. He died on !N'ovember 15, 1858. 



Chapter IX 

The Protegees of the Suxpicians 

St. Vincent de Paul, the founder of the Lazarists, had 
aided the Blessed Louise Le Gras to found the Sisters of 
Charity; M. Olier, the founder of the Sulpicians, had 
enabled Jeanne Mance to found the great Hotel-Dieu at 
Montreal; and the Sulpicians of Baltimore were destined 
to lend a helping hand in the establishment of two con- 
gregations of women in America, the Sisters of St. Jo- 
seph, which name was changed later to that of Sisters of 
Charity of St. Vincent de Paul, and the Oblate Sisters 
of Providence. As the protection which they gave to 
these charitable societies is not the least of the services 
which the Society of St. Sulpice has rendered to the 
Catholic Church in America, a history of the Sulpicians 
in the United States which omitted an account of these 
would be incomplete. ISTo excuse is necessary, therefore, 
if we lay before our readers the details of this story. 

The Sisters oe Charity 

In the autumn of 1807, the Sulpician, Father William 
Valentine Dubourg, at that time president of the newly 
founded St. Mary's College, Baltimore, was on a visit 
to his friend, Father Sibourd, then curate at St. Peter's, 
"New York. While giving Holy Communion at his Mass, 
a day or two after his arrival, he was greatly struck by a 
lady who approached the Lord's table in a flood of tears. 
He related the incident to his friend, M. Sibourd, who 

215 



216 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

told him that the devout lady was a widow, Mrs. Elizabeth 
A. Seton. He proceeded to give the Sulpician an ac- 
count of the young woman (Mrs. Seton was thirty-two 
years old at the time), and was speaking of her in terms of 
the warmest admiration, when there was a tap at the door 
and Mrs. Seton herself was ushered in. After the usual 
greetings, M. Dubourg, who was a remarkably sympa- 
thetic man, became interested in the widow's story, which 
we shall here briefly relate. 

Mrs. Seton was bom in 1774, of Episcopalian parents, 
her father being Dr. Kichard Bayley, a E^ew York physi- 
cian of eminence, for he had been Health Officer of the 
port. She lost her mother when she was only three years 
old. The father, however, who, while not especially in- 
terested in religion, was deeply conscious of his duty to 
his little orphans, made Elizabeth the companion of his 
life, and developed in her feelings of the warmest affec- 
tion, which grew more intense as the years rolled by. 
Elizabeth, who had been born a year before the out- 
break of the War of Independence, partly because of the 
turbulence of the times and partly because the I^ew York 
of those days afforded but few educational advantages, 
grew up with little more than a plain English training. 
She was naturally bright and fond of reading and her 
father fostered this taste. She read serious books by pref- 
erence, and above all gave much time to the reading of 
the Bible, which was her daily companion. He developed 
her natural talents, and in the course of time she became 
a thoughtful girl, whose mind naturally expressed itself 
in striking images, and who took pleasure in writing 
down her thoughts, whether in letters to her friends or 
in notes for private use. She also took great delight in the 
beauties of nature, the glories of the heavens and the 
charms of animal and plant life, all of which were to her 
an expression of the greatness and the power of God. 



THE PROTEGEES OF THE SULPICIANS 217 

In her twentieth year she was married to Mr. William 
Seton, a young New York business man, son of a gentle- 
man who was highly respected as a member of the promi- 
nent firm of Seton & Maitland. The union proved a very 
happy one and was soon blessed with a daughter, Anna, 
and later with four more children. However, after the 
birth of the second child, when Mrs. Seton barely escaped 
with her own life, her husband began to show symptoms 
of the disease of which he died ultimately. Before her 
marriage, Elizabeth, although attentive to her religious 
duties and showing the religious sentiment usual among 
the young ladies of the Episcopal denomination, gave no 
signs of remarkable piety. Her husband and his family, 
except her eldest sister-in-law, Kebecca, were by no means 
unusually devout. On the other hand, the deaths of her 
father-in-law and her father made a deep impression upon 
her and led her to feel the omnipotence of God and to 
meditate on the problem of eternity. !N"aturally her hus- 
band's incurable disease influenced her in the same direc- 
tion. At this time a clergyman of Trinity Church, the 
Eeverend Mr. Hobart, acquired no little influence over her. 
He seems to have been sympathetic and to have had a 
clear understanding of her character. All these influ- 
ences strengthened her religious feelings and her letters, 
and writings plainly show their effects. 

As years passed, the disease which had gripped her hus- 
band gradually increased its hold on him and, as a last 
remedy, Mrs. Seton resolved to take him to Italy, where, 
before his marriage, he had been greatly benefited by the 
climate of Pisa. He had become acquainted in the United 
States with Mr. Philip Filicchi, who, with his brother, 
Antonio, was a prosperous merchant in Leghorn. To 
Leghorn, therefore, Mrs. Seton, accompanied by her 
daughter Anna, resolved to take her sick husband. But 
all to no avail. William Seton died in Pisa and his deatk 



218 THE SULPICIAN^S IN THE TJIiriTED STATES 

was followed by further misfortunes. Anna was infected 
by scarlet fever, and after her recovery Mrs. Seton herself 
was stricken with the same complaint. From the time of 
their arrival in Leghorn, the Filicchi family had done 
everything that the truest friendship could do for the 
American wanderers, but their kindness never shone more 
brightly than during these sad days. iN^othing that good 
will could suggest was left undone. 

The brothers Filicchi were remarkable gentlemen. They 
were great merchants, but greater Christians. They were 
able business men, but their hearts were even more in- 
terested in the cause of virtue and religion than in com- 
merce. During her husband's illness and after his death, 
Mrs. Seton's deeply religious character had excited the 
admiration of the brothers and interested them in her 
spiritual weKare. They had drawn the attention of the 
American lady to the claims of the Catholic Church and 
the deficiencies of the Episcopalian. On her part, Eliza- 
beth, both during her husband's and her own sickness, was 
profoundly impressed by the religious life and principles 
of her Italian friends, for Philip Filicchi was a man well 
versed in Catholic doctrine and enlightened his guest on 
many points of controversy. He copied for her a state- 
ment of Catholic doctrine written by a learned friend of 
his at Gubbio, named Joseph Pecci, remarkable in its 
brevity and clearness.^ Shortly before her departure from 
Italy, Mrs. Seton also visited several of the churches of 
Florence and its vicinity, where she was greatly moved 
by the divine service and was above all impressed by 
the Catholic belief in the Eeal Presence. All her re- 
ligious experiences, aided by the always ready scholar- 
ship of Philip Filicchi and his well selected books explain- 
ing Catholic teaching and ritual, led Mrs. Seton to con- 

1 This document is given in full in vol. i, p. 151, of Archbishop Robert 
Seton's "Memoir, Letters and Journal of Mrs. Seton," and is a powerful, 
concise and cogent explanation of Catholic doctrine. Was Joseph Pecci a 
relative of Leo XIII? 



THE PEOTi:G:feES OF THE STJLPICIANS 219 

ceive a great admiration for Catholics and their Church. 
She was determined to examine the claims of the Catholic 
Church and was, in fact, all but satisfied that it was the 
Church established bj Christ and the Apostles. 

During her homeward voyage she continued her studies, 
and on her arrival in ]^ew York she was in a state of 
mind that bordered on conviction. But serious struggles 
awaited her. Most of her husband's family spared no 
effort to prevent her from deserting their Church and the 
Rev. Mr. Hobart did his best to deter her from taking 
what he thought would be a fatal step. She hesitated, and 
consulted some of the Catholic clergymen to whom Antonio 
Filicchi, who had come with her to the United States, 
recommended her. It is touching to read her appeals for 
advice and instruction made to Bishop Carroll, Father 
Cheverus and others. At last, with the help of God, she 
made a strenuous effort, and on March 14, 1804, was re- 
ceived into the Church by the Rev. Matthew O'Brien at 
St. Peter's, ]^ew York. By thus following her convic- 
tions, she drew down upon herself a storm of bitterness 
from most of her husband's family and many of her 
friends. She had returned from Europe a poor widow, 
for her husband's fortune was wrecked. She had hitherto 
depended upon her relatives, but this support was now 
withheld. Under these critical circumstances Antonio 
Filicchi, in his own and his brother's name, came forward 
most generously to assure the existence and the support 
of the widow and orphans. He was willing to pay for the 
education of the two boys at a Catholic school in Montreal, 
and there was some talk of Mrs. Seton's going to teach in 
a Montreal convent, where the girls were to be entered 
as scholars. But these plans had no practical results. 
The boys were afterward sent to Georgetown, where the 
Filicchis paid the fees. To Mrs. Seton they made an 
allowance of $600 a year, and this with her salary as 



220 THE SULPICIANS 11^^ THE trNITED STATES 

teacher in a 'New York private school enabled her to main- 
tain herself and her girls. In all these arrangements Mrs. 
Seton was guided by some of the Catholic friends to whom 
she had been introduced by Antonio Filicchi even before 
her conversion, the most notable of whom were Bishop 
Carroll of Baltimore, the Rev. Mr. Cheverus, the Rev. 
Dr. Matignon and especially a French clergyman named 
Tisserant, residing in Elizabeth, ^N". J. Besides these the 
pastors of St. Peter's Church in New York, chiefly the 
Rev. Mr. Sibourd, were her confidential advisors. 

We have thus brought down Mrs. Seton's story iK) 
August, 1807, when she met with the Sulpician presi- 
dent of St. Mary's College at the rectory of St. 
Peter's. The conversation naturally dealt with the plans 
of the widow, who spoke of her effort to enter the convent 
at Montreal where her daughters were to be educated. 
The Sulpician, who was a sympathetic and generous soul, 
at once suggested that she start a school in Baltimore. 
This, he thought, might lead to the foundation of a Con- 
gregation of nuns to further Catholic education. The 
idea was entirely in accord with the feelings of Mrs. 
Seton, but no practical steps were then taken to realize 
the scheme. She continued to make her living by board- 
ing some school children, in a cottage on the outskirts of 
New York, where disagreeable incidents often reminded 
her of the precariousness of her position. In this way the 
time passed until the spring of 1808, when M. Dubourg 
came to New York on the occasion of the burial of Mr. 
James Barry, a mutual friend. When he met Mrs. Seton 
the latter half playfully alluded to the scheme of starting 
a school in Baltimore. The Sulpician warmly urged her 
to come to that city, telling her that instead of waiting to 
erect a building on the seminary grounds it would be more 
advantageous to rent a house on Paca Street, only a few 
hundred feet away from St. Mary's College. M. Dubourg 



THE PEOT:feG:feES OF THE SULPICIANS 221 

spoke with such earnestness from the fulness of his ex- 
perience that Mrs. Seton's douhts were dispelled. 

She began at once to make preparations for her removal 
and on June 9, 1808, set sail for Baltimore. She arrived 
there on Corpus Christi day and assisted at the dedication 
of the seminary chapel. "After Mass/' Mrs. Seton tells 
her sister-in-law, "I was in the arms of M. Dubourg's 
sister, surrounded by so many caresses and blessings. My 
wonder is how I got through it all. The feelings were lost 
with delight.'' ]^ext she was taken to the house of M* 
Dubourg's sister, Mrs. Fournier, where she met that lady's 
children and her brother. In the evening one of Mrs, 
Foumier's children recited a poetic welcome to the new 
arrival, written in French by the Sulpician Father Ba- 
bad, who so impressed Elizabeth that she chose him to 
be her confessor. 

With the help of her new acquaintances she was soon 
established in her Baltimore home and before long had a 
circle of interested friends in the Maryland city. The 
Sulpician Fathers, especially, showed her in every way the 
warmest proofs of their friendship, from the venerable 
superior, M. I^agot, down to the youngest member. She 
herself was busy preparing to open the school in Septem- 
ber, when to her great joy there was no lack of pupils, 
every place in her school being filled. I^or was the project 
of making the school the basis of a new congregation of 
teaching Sisters, especially for poor children, lost sight 
of, and M. Babad warmly supported the scheme, which 
had the approval of Bishop Carroll, M. Cheverus and Mrs. 
Seton's other friends. It was Father Babad who brought 
the first recruit to Elizabeth from Philadelphia in the 
person of Miss Cecilia O'Conway, a young lady who at 
the time thought of going to Europe to join a religious 
order. She was followed by two more Philadelphia ladies, 



222 THE SULPICIAITS IN THE TJISTITED STATES 

Miss Maria Murphy and Miss Mary Ann Butler, who were 
soon joined by Miss Susan Clossy of l^ew York. 

When, in the spring of 1809, Father Dubourg saw 
this little band gathered in Mrs. Seton's school, he thought 
it time to take steps in order to realize the plan of the 
new religious organization. She and her companions, 
therefore, assumed a uniform dress, and with M. Du- 
bourg's assistance a code of rules was devised for the 
regular government of the community. At the same time 
Mrs. Seton bound herself by a formal vow, taken in the 
presence of Bishop Carroll, to the practice of poverty, 
chastity and obedience. M. Dubourg was appointed eccle- 
siastical superior of the community so organized in a 
tentative way, though for the time being it was not de- 
termined to associate it with any existing body of religious. 
While no name was definitely adopted for the new organ- 
ization, the members were temporarily designated as the 
Sisters of St. Joseph, at the suggestion of Mrs. Seton. 

About this time there was as a student of theology at 
St. Mary's Seminary a convert from Philadelphia named 
Samuel Cooper.^ He was a man of some means which 
he felt he ought to give to God and the Church. The 
thought came to him that he could do most good by devot- 
ing it to the education of poor Catholic children and he 
spoke of his purpose to M. Dubourg. Simultaneously 
Mrs. Seton spoke to M. Dubourg of her desire to give her- 
self especially to the education of the children of the poor. 
The Sulpician brought the two together and Mr. Cooper 
resolved to appropriate to this purpose some $8,000 that 
he had at his disposal. !N'ext arose the question of select- 
ing a place for the new institution and the advice of 
Bishop Carroll and the Sulpician Superior, M. [N'agot, 
was sought. After some hesitation they approved of Mr. 

1 Mr. Cooper was born in Norfolk, Va., becoming a convert to the church 
while in Philadelphia. 



THE PEOTiafeES OF THE STJLPICIANS 223 

Cooper's choice, which was the now well-known St. Jo- 
seph's Valley, near the village of Emmitsburg, in western 
Maryland. M. Nagot himself at one time intended to 
accompany the Sisters to Emmitsburg, but ill health 
finally prevented the carrying out of this purpose. On 
June 21, 1809, Mother Seton with her daughter, her two 
sisters-in-law and Sister Cecilia O'Conway, left Balti- 
more to occupy the Emmitsburg property. On arriving 
there, however, they found that the house which was to 
be their home was not ready for occupancy, and the Sul- 
pician. Father Dubois, afterward Bishop of 'New York, 
surrendered his own. residence to them, and withdrew to 
the seminary, which was not yet completed. M. Dubois 
was afterward the superior of St. Joseph's community for 
a number of years. 

During the want and distress which afflicted St. Jo- 
seph's community during the first year or two of its strug- 
gle for existence, and in the prolonged illness of some of 
the Sisters, especially Mother Seton's sisters-in-law, M. 
Dubois faithfully and generously helped the nascent Sis- 
terhood with material means where he could, and with 
personal service at all times. When less trying days at 
length smiled upon the patient little band, it was thought 
wise to organize the proposed congregation more defi- 
nitely. Meantime some changes had occurred among the 
superiors of St. Joseph's community. M. Dubourg, the 
first superior, had been called to new duties as Bishop of 
Louisiana and his place had been filled by M. David, 
afterward coadjutor to Bishop Flaget at Bardstown. M. 
David in his turn had been replaced by M. Dubois, the 
head of Mount St. Mary's College, Emmitsburg. 

Bishop Carroll and the Sulpician superiors of St. Jo- 
seph's, in casting about for the rules to be adopted by their 
protegees, had concluded that, with some modifications, the 
rule of the Daughters of Charity, founded by St. Yin- 



224 THE SULPICIANS JIf THE UNITED STATE8 

cent de Paul, would beet meet their wants. When, there- 
fore, M. Flaget, after his promotion to the see of Bards- 
town, visited France, he was requested to obtain for St. 
Joseph's a copy of the constitutions which St. Vincent de 
Paul had drawn up for his foundation. On his return 
they were given to Mother Seton for her examination, and 
by her were turned over to Bishop Carroll and M. Du- 
bourg. After careful consideration and study, it was 
determined to adopt as far as possible the rules of the 
Daughters of Charity. The principal point on which 
the rules were changed in order to adapt them to American 
conditions concerned the activities of the Sisters in the 
schools, for the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de- 
voted themselves entirely to the service of children unable 
to pay for their education. This could be done in France 
because the nuns had an assured income from other 
sources. In the United States, on the contrary, Mother 
Seton's Sisterhood had no income whatever, and the Sis- 
ters must therefore earn their daily bread in part by their 
teaching activity. However, from the beginning, Mother 
Seton's community devoted themselves largely to the edu- 
cation of the poor, and in later years this has been their 
principal work. Father Dubois, therefore, felt obliged to 
recommend to Bishop Carroll a change in the rules so as 
to allow the American Sisterhood to take charge of 
schools for pupils who should pay for tl^ir tuition. An- 
other proposed change was temporary. This permitted 
Mother Seton, notwithstanding her vows, to remain the 
legal guardian of her children. 

With these changes the rules were approved by Arch- 
bishop Carroll in the following words : "I have read and 
endeavored in the presence of God to examine the consti- 
tutions of the Sisters of Charity which have been sub- 
mitted to me by the Eeverend Superior of the Seminary 
of St. Sulpice and have approved them, believing them 



THE PEOTfeG:feES OF THE STJLPICIANS 225 

inspired by the Spirit of God and calculated to conduct 
the Sisters to religious perfection." The following docu- 
ment also accompanied the new constitutions: 

"After having read with great attention the constitu- 
tions of the Sisters of Charity, and approved all that they 
contain, I have presented them to the Very Keverend Arch- 
bishop Carroll to obtain his approbation. At the same 
time I have confirmed and here confirm anew the nom- 
ination of Rev. John Dubois as Superior General of the 
Congregation. 

"Jean Tessier, Superior of St. Sulpice." 

The constitutions vested the government of the Society 
in a Mother Superior and her Assistant, a Treasurer and 
a Procuratrix, but provided besides for a Superior-general, 
who was to be consulted in all important matters both 
temporal and spiritual. As first Superior-general, M. 
Tessier appointed M. Dubois, the President of Mount St. 
Mary's College, thus continuing the traditional guardian- 
ship which the Sulpicians had from the beginning extended 
to the Sisters of St. Joseph. The constitutions, which 
Archbishop Carroll had thus approved, were submitted to 
the votes of the twenty Sisters who were members of the 
Society at this time, and who were informed that they 
were free to sever their connection with the Society. Only 
one availed herself of this right. 

The Sisterhood so established with the aid of the Sul- 
pician Fathers grew more and more prosperous from year 
to year under the Superior-generalship of Father Dubois 
and the government of Mother Seton. Before long St. 
Joseph's was strong enough to send a colony to Philadel- 
phia and this was followed by a delegation of three Sis- 
ters to Mount St. Mary's College. In June, 1817, the 
new orphan asylum of Xew York was confided to the 



226 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

spiritual daughters of tlie N"ew York lady who had been 
practically forced by her relatives to leave her native city. 

Until 1817 the Sisters of St. Joseph had not been legally 
incorporated. Their property was held in the names of 
Samuel Cooper, William Valentine Dubourg and John 
Dubois, the last two members of the Society of St. Sulpice. 
After the adoption of the constitutions, it was befitting 
that the new Society should be incorporated and legally 
invested with its property at Emmitsburg. It is related 
that Mother Seton, who did not see the advantage of this 
change, asked of what service it would be to the Sister- 
hood, and was told that it would enable the Sisterhood to 
sue and be sued. Mother Seton shook her head and re- 
mained unconvinced. The friends of the Sisters, how- 
ever, appealed to the Maryland Legislature for an act of 
incorporation, and through the influence of General Robert 
Harper, son-in-law of Charles Carroll of Carrollton, this 
was granted in January, 1817, and the Sisters of St. 
Joseph became the legal owners of the Emmitsburg prop- 
erty. 

The Society of St. Joseph expanded and flourished for 
eleven years under Mother Seton, who, despite her poor 
health, which began to fail in 1818, was able to send out 
several colonies before her death on January 4, 1821. She 
was assisted in her last moments by another Sulpician who 
had proved a devoted friend to her not only in the govern- 
ment of her Society but also in family affairs. This was 
the sympathetic M. Simon Brute, later Bishop of Yin- 
cennes, a man who in character and disposition was in 
many ways the counterpart of Mother Seton. 

Mother Seton was succeeded as superior by Sister Rose 
White, a Baltimore lady who had proved her executive 
ability as sister servant, as the superior is called, of the 
house at Philadelphia. M. Dubois guided and assisted 
the new head of the Society with the same zeal and fidelity 



THE PBOTEG:fcES OF THE SULPICIANS 227 

with which he had aided the foundress. Indeed, he took 
such a lively interest in the Sisterhood that on his being 
raised to the see of "New York, he thought of transfer- 
ring the mother-house from St. Joseph's Valley to the 
metropolis, a suggestion that did not meet with Arch- 
bishop MarechaFs favor. When Bishop Dubois settled in 
!N'ew York, M. Louis Eegis Deluol took his place as su- 
perior of St. Joseph's. He lost no time in showing that 
the Sisters had a valuable friend in their new superior, 
working with such unwearied zeal in their behalf that 
some of his Sulpician superiors in Europe deemed it wise 
to moderate his zeal. In 1829, appeared M. Carriere, who 
received M. Tessier's resignation and appointed M. Deluol 
superior of St. Mary's Seminary. The program of the 
French Superior, M. Gamier, was, as the reader will 
remember, to free the American Sulpicians from all duties 
except those of seminary professors. M. Carriere there- 
fore advised M. Deluol to give up his position as imme- 
diate superior of the Emmitsburg Sisters. This he did 
and named M. Hickey his successor. However, his title 
of superior of the Seminary gave him a sort of guardian- 
ship or protectorate over the Sisters of Charity, whose 
confidence in the wisdom and business ability of their 
old director was very great, and he continued to work with 
vigor and zeal for their interests. It was in no slight 
degree due to his energetic work that during his admin- 
istration the Sisters were charged with nine parochial 
schools, seven orphan asylums, three academies and four 
hospitals. 

In 1846, during the administration of Mother Etienne, 
who succeeded Mother Rose White, took place the separa- 
tion of tlie 'New York Sisters from the Sisters of St. Jo- 
seph at Emmitsburg. The differences between the bishop 
and the sisterhood originated in a rule adopted by the 
American nuns from the Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent 



228 THE SULPICIAIS-S IN THE UNITED STATES 

de Paul, whicli allowed the Sisters to have only a limited 
superintendence of bojs' orphan asylums. In J^ew York 
the American Sisters managed the boys' orphan asylum 
as well as that of the girls. M. Deluol and Mother 
Etienne and her council thought it was time to revert to 
the strict rule of St. Vincent de Paul, while Bishop Hughes 
insisted upon maintaining conditions as they were. This 
led to a correspondence conducted on the part of the Sis- 
terhood by M. Deluol. In the end, he agreed on behalf 
of the Society that he would give a dispensation to those 
of the Sisters stationed in the New York diocese who pre- 
ferred to become members of the new Sisterhood with rules 
to a great extent the same as those of the Sisters of St. 
Joseph, but of which Bishop Hughes was to be the superior 
(1846). The rest of the Sisters of St. Joseph remained 
under the government of their superior-general, Mother 
Etienne, and under the supervision of the Archbishop of 
Baltimore and the protectorate of M. Deluol. From 1841, 
when M. Hickey gave up the directorship of the Sisters, 
M. Deluol had assumed the duties of that office, and he 
now redoubled his efforts to promote their work, with what 
success we have already seen. The Sisters now had houses 
in many of the Middle and Western States. The bless- 
ings scattered throughout the United States by these modest 
ladies cannot be overestimated and their name is held in 
honor throughout every part of the Church in America. 

To such prosperity the Sisters of St. Joseph had at- 
tained with the assistance of their Sulpician directors and 
under their wise guardianship. The ties between the Sis- 
terhood and the Society of St. Sulpice were very strong, 
and the Sisters looked with gratitude and confidence to 
the Fathers who had aided their institution from its birth 
to its present state of vigor. M. Deluol, on his part, as 
time went on devoted himself to the duties of his protec- 
torate with more and more ardor. Still, he did not forget 



THE PROTEGEES OF THE SULPICIANS 229 

that the laws of his Society and the wishes of his superiors 
in France had decreed the separation of the Sisterhood 
and the gentlemen of St. Sulpice, and as early as 1835, 
he had inaugurated active measures for relinquishing the 
guardianship which the Sulpicians had always exercised 
over the Sisters, seeking to unite them with the French 
Sisters of Charity founded by St. Vincent de Paul. In 
that year Archbishop Eccleston requested the Lazarist 
visitor-general, M. Timon, afterward Bishop of Buffalo, 
to urge the Lazarist superiors in France to bring about 
the union of the American Sisterhood with the Daughters 
of St. yincent de Paul. The French superiors did not 
approve of the plan. Ten years later, however, shortly 
before the differences between Bishop Hughes and the 
Sisters of St. Joseph occurred, new negotiations were 
opened. The bearer of these new proposals was Bishop 
Chanche of E^atchez. He represented Archbishop Eccles- 
ton, M. Deluol, and Mother Etienne, the superior-general. 
The Lazarist superior, whose name was also Etienne, at 
first did not listen with favor to the American bishop. 
However, when the latter presented to him the formal 
demand of the American Sisterhood to be united with the 
French Sisters of Charity, signed by the Archbishop, the 
Sulpician Protector and Mother Etienne, the Lazarist 
asked time for consideration. At that time Father Mailer 
was in the United States as visitor-general of the Lazarist 
houses. To him, on April 5, 1849, M. Etienne wrote re- 
garding the project and instructed him to see personally the 
Archbishop of Baltimore, the Sulpician Fathers and the 
Sisters at Emmitsburg. He did so and reported that all 
the parties interested sincerely desired the imion of the 
American with the French Sisters. Before his departure 
for France, M. Deluol entrusted to him a letter to M. 
Etienne, impressing upon the latter the advantages of the 
proposed union. M. Mailer's report convinced the Laz- 



230 THE SULPICIAI^S 11^ THE UNITED STATES 

arist Superior of the opportuneness of tlie step, and tlie 
request of the American Sisters was duly granted on 
July 7, 1849. When on March 25, 1850, the American 
Sisters renewed their vows, it was done according to the 
forms used by the Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de 
Paul in France. Finally the Emmitsburg Sisters and the 
Sisters of all the houses dependent upon them assumed the 
habit of the French Sisters on December 8, 1851. Be- 
fore departing for Europe M. Deluol resigned his func- 
tions as Protector of the Sisterhood and at his last visit 
to St. Joseph's convent, Emmitsburg, bade them an afPec- 
tionate farewell, at the same time impressing upon them 
the advantages they would derive from their new connec- 
tion and wishing them godspeed for the future. 

Thus were severed the ties that bound the Sisters of 
St. Joseph to the Society of St. Sulpice, forty-two years 
after Mother Seton, with the help of M. Dubourg and his 
confreres, laid the foundation of the Sisters of St. Joseph. 
The Sulpicians had stood by the Sisters in the days of 
trial and poverty. They had guided them through the 
dangers and weakness of infancy until the humble house 
at Emmitsburg had become the mother of many schools, 
hospitals, and orphan asylums scattered over the Middle, 
the Western and the Southern States, and promising 
further expansion in the future. The Sulpicians gave 
up their charge, which they had so faithfully and la- 
boriously carried out, not for reasons of self-interest, but 
because they saw in it the advantage of the Sisterhood 
and because their superiors were convinced that it was 
God's will, as expressed in their rules and traditions. 

The Obeate Sistees of Peovideis^ce 

The French Eevolution brought in its wake a series of 
revolutionary disorders in the island of San Domingo and 




Sanctuary of St. Mary's Seminary Chapel. 



THE PROTEGEES OF THE SULPICIANS 231 

other French colonies. As a consequence many colonists 
were murdered and others fled from their homes, of whom 
many took refuge in the United States and especially in 
Baltimore. Many of them were saved by their faithful 
slaves, who accompanied them in their flight, and in this 
way not a few colored Catholics came to Baltimore, who 
were mostly persons of exemplary piety. On settling in 
Baltimore, they were hospitably received by the Sulpician 
Fathers of St. Mary's Seminary. This was all the more 
natural as the West Indian refugees did not speak Eng- 
lish and therefore sought spiritual assistance from the gen- 
tlemeii of St. Sulpice, whose native language was French. 
Moreover, among the Sulpicians recently arrived was M. 
William Valentine Dubourg, afterward Bishop of New 
Orleans, who was a native of San Domingo, and therefore 
took a special interest in the poor colored refugees. He 
it was who, in 1796, started a catechism class for them. 
When he departed from Baltimore, he left his colored pro- 
tegees to M. Tessier, who afterward became the second 
superior of the Sulpician Fathers. This faithful priest 
became devotedly attached to his colored flock and for 
thirty-one years zealously looked after the spiritual in- 
terests of these good people, serving them as a regular con- 
fessor and instructing them in their religion. 

In 1827, the San Domingo colored Catholics were trans- 
ferred from the care of M. Tessier to that of the Eev. 
James E'icholas Joubert de la Muraille, who was destined 
to become the founder of the colored Sisters of Providence. 
M. Joubert began his ministry on the same plan as that 
followed by M. Tessier, by catechising the children. His 
experience was not very happy. On the first Sunday his 
class knew but little of their lesson, and notwithstanding 
his earnest exhortation, the next Sunday brought no better 
results. Nor was this strange, since the class, both young 
and old, hardly knew how to read. M. Joubert pondered 



232 THE SULPICIAIS-S IN THE UNITED STATES 

over the situation, but lie could not see much hope unless 
his scholars first learned to read the catechism. This, he 
saw, would require the founding of a school. He was fully 
conscious of the obstacles in the way of such a plan, but 
he was not easily daunted. He spoke of his plan to M. 
Tessier, who approved of it, but reminded him that it 
required money, and he did not see where the money was 
to come from. He directed M. Joubert to Archbishop 
Marechal. That prelate equally commended the plan, but 
also shrugged his shoulders when there was question of 
finding the means. M. Joubert saw that for the time be- 
ing patience was the only remedy. Seven months later, 
under date of March, 1828, we read in his diary that he 
was more convinced than ever of the need of a school for 
colored girls, and he again spoke of his scheme to M. 
Tessier and to Monseigneur Whitfield, the administrator 
of the diocese. They left him free to try whether he 
could not find a way to realize his plan. He was not the 
person to shirk difficulties when he had made up his 
mind that something ought to be done, his training and 
experience having made him a man of determination, 
whom obstacles rather attracted than discouraged. 

James Mcholas Joubert de la Muraille was a native 
of St. Jean d'Angely, on the west coast of France, where 
he was bom September 6, 1777. At the age of three or 
four, his parents moved to Beauvais, whence in due time 
he was sent to the military school at Rebois-en-Brie. How- 
ever, for some reason, he abandoned the soldier's career 
and secured a position in the tax department. At the 
age of twenty-three he was commissioned by the French 
tax department to go to San Domingo, which was a hot- 
bed of disorder. He remained there for three years, when 
he was driven out by the rebels and took refuge in Cuba. 
His uncle, 0. Joubert de Maine, who had been a wealthy 
and prominent man in San Domingo, was also obliged to 



THE PBOT^atES OF THE SULPICIANS 233 

leave the island and he and his nephew later found their 
way to Baltimore. Here in 1805 !N"icholas entered St. 
Mary's Seminary. In 1810 he was ordained and shortly 
after became a member of the Society of St. Sulpice. His 
character and career pointed him out to his superiors as 
a man of business, likely to enforce order. Accordingly 
from the first we find him employed as the chief disci- 
plinarian of the college, to which was subsequently added 
the treasurership. At the same time, he was instructor 
in French and geography. While as teacher and disci- 
plinarian he maintained the strictest order, he was, never- 
theless, well liked by the students. Such were his duties 
from 1810 to 1828, when he was placed in charge of the 
catechetical instruction given to the colored people. 

Having been left free by the administrator of the dio- 
cese and his superior to try his plan of establishing a 
school for the instruction of the colored people, his eyes 
were directed primarily to the colored San Domingo exiles. 
It was they who formed the whole or the principal part 
of the catechism classes instituted in the seminary chapel. 
As these people for many years spoke only the French 
language, the catechism was at first taught only in French, 
but as M. Joubert took charge of this colored catechism 
class more than thirty years after the establishment of 
the colored congregation by MM. Dubourg and Tessier 
it is probable that by that time the catechism was taught 
in English. From entries in the diary of the Sisters, we 
learn that addresses in French were delivered before them 
even much later, and that the Sisters regarded their French 
address as a peculiar favor, whence we infer that English 
was the language usually employed in the discourses de- 
livered in the church. 

At all events, it is certain that the colored San Domingo 
exiles were much better educated than the average Ameri- 
can slave population, for the colored ladies whom M. 



234 THE SULPICIAN-S IN THE UNITED STATES 

Joiibert called upon to assist him to found the Oblate Sis- 
ters of Providence were teachers, then presiding over a 
school for colored children in Baltimore. One of these 
was a Cuban lady named Elizabeth Lange, while the other 
two, Marie Eosine Boegue and Marie Frances Balais, 
came from San Domingo. In March, 1828, M. Joubert 
met two of these women and learned from them that for 
some ten years preceding they had thought of founding 
a school for colored girls, that MM. Babad and Moran- 
ville had encouraged them in this project and that in fact 
for the last year they had kept such a school where they 
taught colored children gratuitously. However, as they 
had not the means to continue the work, they had given 
up the school. M. Joubert on thinking over his plans 
concluded that to make the school permanent, it would be 
better to start a society of religious, who would be kept 
together by their vows and their piety. As this was an 
idea already entertained by the colored women, his plan 
was readily accepted. On April 2 2d, therefore, he met 
two of the three women and agreed to begin work. To 
provide the money necessary Mrs. Chatard, wife of the 
well known Baltimore physician of that name, their grand- 
son being future Bishop of Indianapolis, and Mrs. Ducatel 
volunteered to gather subscriptions among their friends. 
The colored women thereupon hired a house on St. Mary's 
Court and took possession of it June 13, 1828. Eleven 
boarders and nine day scholars attended the school from 
the start. 

Though the Sisters were still novices, Elizabeth Lange 
was made superior of the community. Before they had 
concluded their novitiate on June 1, 1829, they were 
joined by Marie Therese Duchemin, who prepared herseK 
to take her vows along with the other three women. This 
event took place on June 2, 1829, not without some alarm 
on the part of the Sisters. There were rumors in the 



THE PROTEGEES OF THE SULPICIANS 235 

city of what was going to take place and some narrow- 
minded people declared that the profession of the colored 
Sisters would be a profanation of the habit. The women 
in their simplicity consulted M. Joubert, who encouraged 
them and told them not to fear. Afterthoughts, however, 
made him hesitate and he went to consult Archbishop 
Whitfield, who authorized him to proceed with the cere- 
mony, saying that he had considered every phase of the 
case beforehand. As we hear no more of opposition to the 
Sisterhood and as ladies of the highest rank, like Mrs. 
Chatard and Mrs. Ducatel and their friends, did not hesi- 
tate to become their patrons openly, we are justified in 
inferring that the good Sisters were frightened by idle 
rumors. 

Moreover, they were convinced before long that they 
were under the protection of the highest authorities in the 
Church. On October 21, 1829, Archbishop Whitfield, 
accompanied by Bishops Flaget, Fenwick and Kosati, and 
by the future Bishops Brute of Vincennes and Blanc of 
'New Orleans, paid his first visit to the school. When 
asked to bless the Sisters, Bishop Flaget told them that 
though they were but four at the time, they would number 
twelve in two years. A fortnight afterward Bishop Eng- 
land of Charleston honored the new community with a visit 
and after reading the rules of the Sisters expressed his 
full satisfaction. 

The school flourished from the start. Less than a 
twelve-month after it was opened, the house occupied by 
it was too small. The Sisters purchased a home from Dr. 
Chatard, which had to be enlarged to satisfy the needs of 
the school. On July 12, 1830, the children who had been 
prepared for first Communion, their parents and their 
friends, assembled in the lower chapel of the seminary, 
where the ceremony took place, to the great edification of 
parents and pupils. In due time, the commencement wai 



236 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

held in presence of Father Tessier and Father Wheeler, 
who addressed the audience. Bishop Flaget's prediction 
proved to be correct, for on October 19, 1831, the Sisters 
really numbered a full dozen. 

On March 22, 1832, the rescript of the Koman Propa- 
ganda approving of the new Congregation was received 
from Father Anthony Kohlmann, S. J., of the Roman Col- 
lege. Hereafter, instead of a promise, the Sisters made 
three simple vows, to be renewed every year, the ceremony 
taking place for the first time on July 2, 1832. Before 
long the Sisters were called upon by the civil authorities 
to render service to the city of Baltimore, on the occa- 
sion of the cholera epidemic which invaded the city. They 
sent four of the Sisters to the almshouse to nurse the sick. 
After rendering efficient service, they returned to their 
home without suffering any loss, and having received 
the thanks of the trustees of the poor house. 

The spirit of the community was exemplary. They 
were zealous, self-sacrificing, loyal and characterized by 
the most edifying simplicity. They were, moreover, ani- 
mated with the deepest loyalty to their founder and direc- 
tor, M. Joubert, who was their prudent and benevolent 
guide for many years. In the diary of the nuns, this 
loyalty and simplicity is expressed in most touching lan- 
guage. Though M. Joubert occasionally found it neces- 
sary to "scold" his children, he was always their ven- 
erated Father. During his last illness, they accompanied 
him from day to day with their affectionate prayers until 
he died on I^ovember 5, 1843. 

M. Joubert was the first and last Sulpician director of 
the colored Sisters of Providence. The movement to dis- 
embarrass the American Society of St. Sulpice had set in 
some years before and steadfastness to principle led them 
to place in other hands the Oblate Sisters of Providence, 
as they did the Sisters of Charity a few years later. 



Chaptee X 
St. Maey's College, 1829-1852 

The sword of Damocles threatened St. Mary's College 
from the time of M. Carriere's visit in 1829 and the life 
of the college hung, so to say, on a thread. Yet these were 
the halcyon days of the institution. It grew in the number 
of its teachers and of its scholars, in its reputation and 
popularity and in the thoroughness of its work. It is now 
time to return to the history of the college and to pursue 
its inner and outer fortunes. 

In 1829 M. Damphoux, who had been the president of 
the College for eleven years, resigned his office and severed 
his connection with St. Sulpice. He was succeeded by 
M. Samuel Eccleston, whom we have encountered on more 
than one occasion in the course of our narrative. He was 
himself an alumnus of St. Mary's College, a distinguished 
scholar, an attractive orator and a man of affairs. He was 
affable and dignified, a learned priest who inspired respect 
and love and whose merits were appreciated by his col- 
leagues as well as by the students of the college. He was 
an admirable representative of Sulpician methods and the 
Sulpician body. But M. Eccleston was not destined to rule 
St. Mary's for a long time. So distinguished and able a 
man, no matter how modest, how averse to promotion to the 
hierarchy, and how true to the Sulpician principles, could 
not escape the fate of being raised to the episcopate. In 
1834, when he had been president of St. Mary's for only 
^ve years, M. Eccleston became the fifth Archbishop of 
Baltimore. 

237 



258 THE SULPICIAIS-S IIT THE UNITED STATES 

His successor as president of the college was his most 
intimate friend, M. Chanche, like himself, a Marylander. 
Bom in 1795 of French parents, who had been exiled from 
San Domingo, he received his entire education under the 
Sulpicians at Baltimore, and was a thorough son of M. 
Olier. A handsome man, a polished gentleman, an elo- 
quent orator, a born disciplinarian, he became a member 
of the college faculty even before his ordination and cap- 
tivated all with whom he came in contact. Older by six 
years than M. Eccleston and nominated to the coadjutor- 
ship of Baltimore before him, he succeeded in placing that 
dignity on the shoulders of his younger confrere and was 
himself promoted to the presidency of the college. Here 
he remained for six years, greatly admired and beloved, 
not without having to struggle against the elevation to 
the coadjutorship of Boston, to which Bishop Tenwick 
insisted upon promoting him. 

In 1841 M. Chanche became Bishop of I^atchez. His 
successor, M. Kaymond, was a native of France who, 
though an able and amiable man, seems at times not to 
have been understood by the boys of St. Mary's. Even 
rbefore he became actual president, while Bishop Chanche 
was expecting the Bulls which made him Bishop of 
Natchez, the spirit of fun seems to have tempted the boys. 
A disturbance after supper on February 8, 1841, resulted 
in serious consequences to the rioters, seven of whom were 
expelled. In January, 1848, we find new symptoms of 
insubordination mentioned in M. Deluol's diary. At all 
events it was thought wise to place M. Eaymond as presi- 
dent of the newly founded St, Charles' College, and to 
I)ring Father Oliver Jenkins to St. Mary's. With his 
arrival order and discipline re-entered St. Mary's and dis- 
tinguished the last years of the college. The institution 
was as popular to the end as it had been in the heyday of 



ST. mart's college, 1829-1852 239 

its prosperity, and was not forgotten by its alumni half a 
century after its closing. 

The course of studies followed at St. Mary's during the 
last twenty years of its existence did not essentially differ 
from the curriculum we have described above. Indeed, 
these were days of educational conservatism, and through- 
out the length and breadth of the land, among Catholics 
and non-Catholics, there was no evidence of revolutionary 
innovation in the field of education. Besides, from the 
time of its organization, the college had been in the van 
of the educational movement and maintained itself in this 
position until the close of its career. The faculty and 
instructors during this time were not inferior to the edu- 
cators who had given so progressive an impulse from the 
start. Some of the best professors who had done most 
to give St. Mary's its initial reputation were still alive. 
Others had passed away, but had been replaced by men of 
equal merit. The Sulpicians, MM. Joubert, Hickey, 
Elder, Knight and Lhomme, had been members of the 
faculty, some for a longer, some for a shorter time be- 
fore 1829, and all but M. Hickey remained to the clos- 
ing of the college. The faculty, as far as its principal 
members were concerned, consisted of well-tried veterans, 
of whose ability and experience there could be no question. 
We are already acquainted with the merits of M. Joubert 
as a disciplinarian and of M. Hickey as teacher of English 
literature and rhetoric. M. Lhomme was an able Greek 
scholar and M. Eandanne, the professor of Latin, was the 
author of a Latin Grammar which was used at St. Mary's 
and in other institutions for many years. Its merits were 
attested by the fact that it had a number of editions. 

To the Sulpician members of the faculty must be added 
M. Yerot, the scientist, and Mr. Pizarro, the professor of 
Spanish, who were prominent members of the teaching 
body. Professor Pizarro published a book of Spanish 



240 THE SULPICIAlsrS IN THE UNITED STATES 

dialogues. He was the teacher of S. Teakle Wallis, who 
subsequently became a corresponding member of the 
Spanish Academy, but never forgot what he owed to his 
old professor. He is said to have helped his former 
teacher in his old age, and to have provided for his burial 
in his own family plot. Of M. Verot, who afterward be- 
came Bishop of Savannah, we have already said that he 
was a distinguished scientist and mathematician, who be- 
came the friend of many other American scientific schol- 
ars, especially of Professor Henry, the head of the Smith- 
sonian Institution. 

The elementary instruction and the discipline of the 
college were largely in the hands of seminarians, some 
of whom subsequently acquired a considerable reputation. 
However, there were also lay professors who taught at 
the college for a number of years and who were probably 
not seminarians. Among them, we note the younger 
Wenninger, whose activity at the college extended from 
1815 to 1839; Samuel Smith (1820-51) ; M. S. Gallagher 
(1827-34) ; and H. J. Myers (1827-36). Mr. Kelly was 
professor of music (1823-1852). The professor of Ger- 
man in 1843-44 was Maximilian Oertel, a converted Lu- 
theran minister. Whether he studied for the priesthood 
we are not aware, but he is well known as the pioneer of 
the Catholic German press in the United States, having 
founded the "Katholische Wahrheitsfreund" of Cincin- 
nati. In the fifties he founded the ISTew York "Kirchen- 
zeitung," which was a well-known Catholic journal in the 
sixth and seventh decades of the nineteenth century.* 

We see that the faculty of St. Mary's had every claim 
to be regarded as an able and experienced body and we are 
not surprised that the college attracted numerous students, 
many of whom, as a result of their training, became men 

1 See biography of M. Oertel by the present writer in "Records and 
Studies," vol. iv, p. 139 sqq. 



ST. mart's college, 1829-1852 241 

of nota The jubilee volume published by St. Mary's 
Seminary in 1891 furnishes us with most of the names 
of the college students who were matriculated there until 
its close in 1852. This list, while it cannot be considered 
complete, at least enables us to study the student body in 
some detail and furnishes the means of learning its com- 
ponent parts and of ascertaining the relative number of 
the students. The results of this study are most inter- 
esting. We do not learn, it is true, the exact number of 
students at any time, but it is certain that it never reached 
three hundred. During the last few years, when the ap- 
proaching suppression of the college became known, the 
number of students inevitably decreased, but even to 
the end, the college had a surprisingly strong grip upon its 
clientage. 

In this, as in the early period of the college, a large 
proportion of the students were non-Catholics, the names 
being equally balanced between English and non-English. 
In the latter category we include Irish, German, French, 
Spanish and Italian names, with a very slight sprinkling 
of Jews. The Hebrews probably did not number more 
than three in all. Expressed in percentage, we find that 
the English names amount to about 55 per cent of the 
whole, whereas about 11 per cent each must be credited 
to the Irish, German, Erench and Spanish names. We are 
surprised that the Irish element should prove so weak, but 
our astonishment is not justified if we bear in mind that 
in 1852 the strong Irish immigration had only just begun, 
and that we should not expect recent immigrants to be 
able to send their children to a boarding college. Of 
course, the Irish, Spanish and French contingents were 
entirely Catholic, and the German students were mostly 
so, being largely derived from the old Catholic Pennsyl- 
vania settlement 

The 55 per cent of English names, of course, is largely 



242 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

descended from tlie old Catliolic settlers in Maryland. In 
fact the records of tlie college show that between 1818 
and 1827 the number of Catholic and Protestant boys near- 
ly balanced one another. In some years the Catholics were 
in the majority, while in others, sometimes even the very 
next year, the Protestants were the more numerous. But 
the excess on either side was usually very small. Surely 
this is a remarkable testimonial to the tolerance and kindly 
feeling both of the Catholics and the Protestants. Most 
of the distinguished names from South Carolina, how- 
ever, which we remarked in the early period of the college, 
have disappeared, while we note the new name of Legare 
from Charleston. !North Carolina sends a respectable con- 
tingent of students, while a much smaller proportion comes 
from Virginia. The French students are largely Balti- 
more and Louisiana boys; the number of West Indians 
seems to diminish. All in all, St. Mary's has kept a 
strong hold on the Spanish and French West Indians and 
can still boast of the cosmopolitan character of its students. 
Of the Catholic Maryland families we find on the rolls 
of the college the Carrolls, the Jenkinses, the Knotts, the 
O'Donnells, the Chatards, the Tiernans, the Boarmans, 
the Chapelles, the Blenkinsops; of the non-Catholics, the 
Howards, the Ellicotts and the Johnsons. Of Pennsyl- 
vania Catholic names we note that of Bouvier and of the 
"New York names that of Thebaud. The Iturbide name 
has several representatives, as had the family of Garesche, 
said to have its home in Delaware. 

Among the distinguished alumni of St. Mary's College 
during this period appear Thomas Foley, Coadjutor- 
Bishop of Chicago (1870-1879), and his brother John 
Samuel (1851), Bishop of Detroit; and the Jesuit, Father 
Charles Hitzelberger of Baltimore (1841). The Rev- 
erend J. A. Walter became well known as the pastor of 
St. Patrick's Church in Washington, being also distin- 



ST. Mary's college, 1829-1852 243 

guished for his charity.^ The Reverend J. J. Dougherty 
was for a short time administrator of the archdiocese of 
Baltimore. 

We have already mentioned Severn Teakle Wallis, who 
was graduated in 1832, and Eobert Milligan McLane, 
graduated in 1833. After graduating at West Point in 
1837 and distinguishing himself in the Seminole and other 
Indian wars, the latter became a lawyer, and was elected 
to Congress 1845-1851, afterward serving as minister to 
China and then to Mexico (1859). He withdrew from, 
political life during the Civil War, but subsequently re- 
turned to Congress. He became Governor of Maryland in 
1883, resigned in 1885 and was appointed minister to 
France the same year, dying there in 1898. Christopher 
Johnston (1836 and after) became an eminent physician 
and surgeon, professor of anatomy and physiology and 
eventually of surgery in the University of Maryland. He 
was also president of the Maryland Academy of Sciences. 
Charles O'Donovan (1850) was, like Professor Johnston, 
a physician of note. Simon Bolivar Daniel Danels 
(1844), son of John Daniel Danels, captain in the 
Colombian navy, was for a long time consul for Venezuela 
at Baltimore. Oden Bowie, who was graduated in 1845, 
became Governor of Maryland in the sixties. A. Leo 
Knott became a distinguished jurist, was Attorney-Gen- 
eral of Maryland 1867, 1871 and 1875 and Assistant Post- 
master-general under President Cleveland. 

St. Mary's College was therefore a flourishing institu- 
tion in 1845, when M. Gamier died and M. de Courson 
became Superior-general, and nothing seemed to stand in 
the way of its further progress. But to the French and to 
many of the American members of St. Sulpice it was 
looked upon as an anomaly. They therefore sent M. Fail- 

1 Father Walter attended Mrs. Surratt before her execution, of which 
he wrote an account, published in the "United States Catholic Historical" 
Magazine," vol. iii, p. 353 sqq. 



244 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

Ion to the United States, where he arrived in 1849. The 
obstacles which, at the time of M. Carriere^s visit, had 
made it difficult, if not impossible, to give np the college 
had now been in part removedj. TheJ contract of the 
trustees of the college with the Legislature had been com- 
pletely fulfilled. Moreover, the Jesuit Fathers were then 
inclined to establish a college in the city of Baltimore. 
iN'egotiations were therefore entered into between the Sul- 
pician and the Jesuit superiors, which promised a satis- 
factory arrangement. 

Thus St. Mary's College was destined to disappear from 
the list of American academic institutions. It had kept 
faith with the State of Maryland, which had so liberally 
befriended it in its infancy. It had met the educational 
requirements of the parents who had so long shown their 
confidence in the gentlemen of St. Sulpice by entrusting 
to them their sons. It had earned the gratitude of its 
alumni by being their true and intelligent mother, who 
most conscientiously satisfied their moral and intellectual 
needs. It was to pass away by a voluntary act of devotion 
to principle, to which it sacrificed the most favorable pros- 
pects for the future. 



Chapter XI 

The College of St. Charles 
Baltimore 

By the charter of the Maryland Legislature, passed on 
February 3, 1830, the College of St. Charles was created 
a corporation. Its walls and framework were completed 
in 1832, its opening was advertised in the "Catholic Al- 
manac" from 1839, its interior fittings provided and its 
debts paid by the donation of the Eeverend B. S. Piot in 
1840. But notwithstanding all these circumstances, the 
college was not opened. Of the original Board of Trus- 
tees numbering five, a bare quorum, consisting of MM. 
Eccleston, Deluol and Elder, remained. In 1848 Arch- 
bishop Eccleston of Baltimore, who had always, like his 
former Sulpician confreres, been convinced that a lower 
seminary was needed in the Baltimore diocese, thought 
that the time for opening St. Charles' had come. Whether 
this conviction was due to the small number of priestly 
vocations which St. Mary's College had thus far fur- 
nished, or to the increase of the Catholic body in Baltimore 
and the United States or to M. de Courson, the newly 
elected superior of the Sulpicians in France, or to all 
three factors, we do not know. 'Nor do we know how M. 
Kaymond, then president of St. Mary's College, arrived 
at the same conclusion. Suffice it to say, that in a con- 
ference with M. Deluol on September 26, 1848, Arch- 
bishop Eccleston declared his determination that the new 
college should be opened on !N'ovember 1 of that year. M. 
Deluol, who had his gTave misgivings as to the timeliness 

245 



246 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

of this, said that he would abide by the archbishop's 
opinion. 

After night prayers, on September 27, 1848, M. Kay- 
mond called to his room Father Oliver L. Jenkins, then 
a teacher in St. Mary's College, spoke to him of the arch- 
bishop's wish to open St. Charles' College on the first 
of I^ovember, and told him that his name had been pro- 
posed for the presidency. Father Jenkins replied that if 
this was God's will he was quite ready to undertake the 
work. The following day at dinner M. Eaymond read a 
paragraph from a newspaper in which Father Jenkins was 
mentioned as the president of St. Charles'. All the Sul- 
picians present congratulated him but he declined the 
title, because, as far as he knew, the superior (M. Deluol) 
had not authorized any such appointment. On Septem- 
ber 29, Father Jenkins received the following letter, en- 
closing $250, from Archbishop Eccleston: 

"Rev. and Dear Sir: — I am truly delighted and con- 
soled at the prospect of having St. Charles' College at 
length thrown open to receive the future ministers, and, 
I trust, ornaments of the sanctuary. When this, the most 
ardent and long cherished wish of my heart, shall have 
been accomplished, I will be almost anxious to say my 
Nunc Dimittis. I am happy also to add that in your ap- 
pointment as its first president, I have the strongest guar- 
anty of its stability and successful operation. . . . 

"Wishing you every blessing, especially in the dis- 
charge of the important trust committed to your zeal and 
piety, I am devotedly yours in Christ, 

"Samuel, Abp. Bait." 

After some hesitation. Father Jenkins sent the follow- 
ing reply to the Archbishop: 

"Your Grace: — 

"The peculiar circumstances in which I find myself 




Eev. Oliver L. Jenkins. 



THE COLLEGE OF ST. CHAEUES, BALTIMORE 247 

in regard to the letter which I received from you have 
prevented my answering it immediately. Though I feel 
greatly honored by the expression of your good will, I 
cannot consider myself president of St. Charles'. At the 
same time I cannot, because of the respect and obedience 
which I owe to my superior, take any steps in the under- 
taking which you have so much at heart before being 
aware of M. Deluol's wishes nor without having been ex- 
pressly named by him. Up to this moment I have not 
heard a word from him on the subject. The importance 
of the work in question, as well as considerations of deli- 
cacy, forbid my taking the initiative or taking any steps 
that may in any way influence his decision. I shall there- 
fore keep the generous gift contained in your note until I 
know something definite. In any case, I shall always be 
grateful to you for the warm expression of your confi- 
dence in me and for your good will. With the help of 
God, I shall endeavor to do nothing that might cause the 
loss of the former or the lessening of the latter. 
"I am ever, 
"Your affectionate and obedient son and servant, 

"Oliver Jenkins."^ 

On the afternoon of the very day on which this letter 
was written, M. Deluol had an interview with Father Jen- 
kins and informed him that, though it would give him 
pain to part from him and though he had his doubts as 
to the success of the enterprise, he thought it was the will 
of God that "I should accept the office which the Arch- 
bishop wished to entrust to me." 

A few days later, on October 4, Archbishop Eccleston, 
M. Deluol and M. Elder, as the only members of the 
Board of Trustees, met and filled the vacancies due to the 
death of M. Tessier and the promotion of M. Chanche 

^ The above text is translated from Andre in "Bulletin Trimestriel," 
No. 59, p. 565. 



248 THE SULPieiAN'S IN THE UNITED STATES 

to the see of Natchez, hy electing MM. Kaymond and 
Oliver L. Jenkins. The two new members of the Board 
were immediately installed and chose Father Jenkins as 
president of St. Charles'.^ Thereupon he laid before the 
Board a prospectus of the college which he had prepared 
the night before and which seems to have been approved 
by the Board. Thus, eighteen years after its incorpora- 
tion, St. Charles' College received its first president. But 
it had as yet neither students nor income. Forthwith the 
Archbishop called a meeting of the clergy for October 12, 
to provide for the maintenance of the professors and the 
students.^ He placed before them the reasons which led 
him to open immediately the College of St. Charles, and 
appealed to their generosity to support the new institu- 
tion. The Archbishop's proposal was approved and four- 
teen of the pastors pledged themselves to give $100 each 
for the support of one student in the new college. On 
October 15, by the Archbishop's order, a collection was 
taken up, which brought the sum of $1,400, which was 
spent on the needed furnishings of the College. 

Four students were selected from the schools of the 
Christian Brothers in Baltimore, to wit: John B. Con- 
nolly, Michael Dausch, Joseph Gross and William Gar- 
vey. On the eve of All Saints' day, 1848, they entered 
St. Charles' College, led by their new president. Father 
Jenkins, and accompanied by a young deacon from St. 
Mary's Seminary, Mr. Edward Caton. The record does 
not neglect to tell us that they brought with them a house- 
keeper to provide for the material wants of the faculty 
and students. At night the first meditation was held, and 

*This fact is not stated in the documents, but it follows necessarily 
from the other statements made therein. According to the charter the 
president was appointed to office by the trustees. Now according to the 
"Notice sur le seminsire de Baltimore," found at the end of Gosselin s 
"Vie de M. Emery" (p. 396), the trustees had not held a single meeting 
during the preceding sixteen years. Father Jenkins' official appointment 
could not, therefore, have been made prior to the meeting of October 4, 
on which occasion the vacancies in the Board of Trustees were filled. _ 

a In 1848 there were six parishes in the city of Baltimore, five in 
Washington, Georgetown, and Alexandria, Virginia. 



THE COLLEGE OF ST. CHARLES, BALTIMOEE 249 

Father Jenkins' diary informs ns that this brought the 
inauguration of St Charles' College to a satisfactory 
close. During the following weeks new students came in 
one by one, four from Washington, four from Baltimore 
and six from the country towns, so that the entire diocese 
was fairly represented. Before the end of the year, which 
was satisfactorily completed in July with simple com- 
mencement exercises, this little flock had been reduced 
to twelva 

The president was obviously the most important person 
in the embryo college, and accordingly he deserves our 
special attention as being practically the cornerstone of 
the new institution. Father Oliver L. Jenkins was a 
Baltimorean by birth, his family being descended from 
the old Catholic settlers in the Maryland colony. They 
were prosperous and noted for their loyalty to the Catho- 
lic Faith. Oliver was educated at St. Mary's College, 
where he graduated with distinction at the age of eight- 
een, in July, 1831. His first preference was for a busi- 
ness life, and as there was at the time a vacancy in the 
Union Bank of his native city, he was appointed to fill it. 
He was a successful banker from 1831 to 1841, spending 
the year 1837-38 in European travel. However, after his 
return his mind took a different direction. He deter- 
mined to become a priest and entered St. Mary's Semi- 
nary in 1841, He was ordained on December 21, 1844, 
and joined the Society of St Sulpice in 1846, teaching at 
St. Mary's College both before and after his ordination. 

Father Jenkins' business career, however, left an im- 
pression upon his character, giving him a positive and 
practical turn of mind which, joined to deep piety and 
great charity, made him an ideal president of St. Charles' 
College. He had a distinguished, courtly bearing which, 
in conjunction with his positive character, stamped his 
manner with the impression of authority. He was con- 



250 THE SULPICIAITS IN THE UNITED STATES 

sequently both beloved and respected as the president of 
St. Charles', though his first connection with the college 
was soon interrupted. He and Mr. Caton were the only 
teachers of the young flock, but there was plenty of work 
of an executive nature to keep him busy, and the former 
banker showed himself a vigorous business man. Indeed, 
his business administration of St. Charles' was so suc- 
cessful that it caused his temporary separation from the 
new college and placed him at the head of old St. Mary's 
during the last three years of its existence. At St. 
Charles', which was in its infancy, a less strenuous head 
sufficed, whereas the n:ianagement of St. Mary's, which 
even in the years before its dissolution counted upwards 
of a hundred students, required much tact and firmness. 
Accordingly, M. Eaymond, president of St. Mary's, who, 
although a very attractive man, was not endowed with ex- 
ecutive gifts, was transferred to St. Charles', and Father 
Jenkins took his place at St. Mary's. But M. Raymond 
did not long rule St. Charles', for in 1850 he was re- 
placed by M. Stanislas Ferte, a native of the diocese of 
Beauvais, where he was bom on August 30, 1821. He 
was ordained in 1846, being thereupon appointed by his 
bishop professor of dogma. Two years later he joined the 
Society of St. Sulpice, made his novitiate and in 1849-50 
taught philosophy at Issy. 

In 1852 Father Jenkins returned to St. Charles' and 
gave himself heart and soul to the interests of the insti- 
tution. To it he devoted not only the best part of his 
large private fortune, but all the powers of his mind and 
the service of his heart. He taught there for seventeen 
years, besides watching over the discipline of the stu- 
dents. E'aturally his business training had not made him 
a deep and varied scholar, but he was an excellent mathe- 
matician, an interested student of English literature, and 
a graceful writer of vigorous English. As he considered 



THE COLLEGE OF ST. CHARLES, BALTIMORE 251 

that the current histories of English literature did not do 
justice to Catholic writers, he wrote "The Student's 
Handbook of British and American Literature," which 
was published by M. Ferte after his death, its merits be- 
ing attested by the eleven editions which it has reached. 

As a disciplinarian, Father Jenkins inspired great re- 
spect. He was energetic and forceful in the maintenance 
of order, and a direction once given was rarely withdrawn 
or modified. When occasion required it, he became em- 
phatic and plain-spoken, though his natural earnestness 
usually sufficed to secure the result he wished to achieve. 
In some respects the discipline was stricter in the early 
days of the college than it is at present. Father Jenkins, 
for instance, strictly banished all novels, and it is a tra- 
dition that no such unholy book crept into the college in 
his day.-^ 

In March, 1849, St. Charles' College numbered twelve 
students. Under Father Raymond and Father Ferte and 
up to 1853, eighty-one students had been registered, of 
whom, however, only forty-five remained in July, 1853. 
The first class, having completed their six years' course, 
graduated the following year and entered the seminary. 
They were only four in number, but this need not surprise 
us, since in all American high schools we find the same 
tale. Rarely do 25 per cent of the students who enter a 
high school finish their course. 

During the first four years all the students of St. 
Charles', except seven, came from the archdiocese of Bal- 
timore, but the following year we find that the college at- 
tracted students from a distance, ISTew York and E'ew 
England contributing not a few. Indeed, from 1854 a 
steady stream of youthful seminarians came from the 
E'ew England States, a phenomenon that continued until 

1 The present writer remembers that in the fifties and sixties of the 
nineteenth century, the reading of romances was by no means encour- 
aged in his own alma mater. 



252 THE SULPICIAI^S IN THE UN^ITED STATES 

the end of the century. In 1895, for instance, New 
England sent fifty-nine students, while Maryland con- 
tributed only thirty-one. E'ew York also furnished, at 
times, a large contingent, as did also some of the dioceses 
which had no colleges of their own. !N^ew Jersey, in 
Bishop Bayley's time, stood sponsor for as many as a 
dozen seminarians. St. Charles' never received many 
students from the Southern States, probably because they 
had few candidates for the priesthood, as was natural 
in view of the weakness of the Catholic element in the 
population. The Middle- Western and Western States of 
the Union were scantily represented on St. Charles' regis- 
ter, doubtless for another reason, inasmuch as from the 
days of Bishop Flaget, these States had maintained lower 
seminaries of their own. The same explanation may be 
given for parts of Pennsylvania, though now and then as 
many as a dozen Pennsylvanians were matriculated at the 
same time at St. Charles'. 

If we inquire to whom and to what influence St. 
Charles' owes the large number of students it has al- 
ways received from dioceses other than Baltimore, we 
are largely reduced to conjecture. No doubt the excel- 
lence of the education provided for the students by the 
gentlemen of St Sulpice and the approval of the special 
character of the college by the various bishops of the coun- 
try and especially of the New England States, explain 
the patronage of the institution, once its merits had be^ 
come known. But the fact that this patronage began so 
soon after the opening of the college, may perhaps be 
ascribed to the great influence and popularity of Father 
Deluol. He was a universal favorite with the bishops 
and priests of the Eastern and Middle States. His fre- 
quent journeys northward, even as far as Montreal, on 
the business of the Seminary and of Mother Seton's Sis- 
terhood, enabled him to impress bishops and clergy with 



THE COLLEGE OP ST. CHARLES, BALTIMORE 255 

the merits of his Sulpician confreres. While we may thus 
reasonably credit to his influence the success of St. 
Charles' even after he had returned to France, we shall 
not go wrong in attributing it, in part, to the energetic 
and' business-like measures of Father Jenkins. 

It is well known that in most American dioceses the 
education of the clergy is to a large extent provided by the 
bishops, the priests and the faithful of the diocese, though 
of course some of the students pay for their own educa- 
tion. Financial considerations had always been a grave 
difficulty in the way of starting a lower seminary, but 
this difficulty was triumphantly overcome at St. Charles. 
The history of the college, as illustrated by a single year, 
shows that about 26 per cent of the tuitions are paid for 
by the bishops, 21 per cent by clergymen, 41 per cent by 
the students or their parents, 7 per cent by patrons and 
3% per cent by scholarship funds. 

The yearly tuition fee at St. Charles^ was at first $100. 
Some ten years later, it was found necessary, in order to 
provide for the expenses, to raise the amount to $140, and 
in the seventies it was raised to $180. Concessions were 
made, however, to the Baltimore students and to poor 
scholars. Another source of income was the farm. This 
consisted at first of about 240 acres, which was gradually 
increased till it measured some six hundred and forty 
acres. It produced all the vegetables needed for the college 
community, besides furnishing the meat and the flour. 
Many of the Sulpicians took great pleasure in agriculture, 
and, under their superintendence, a relatively small num- 
ber of workmen was sufficient to take care of the farm. 
In the nineties, the value of the farm produce was set down 
at $10,000. 

To donations also, the institution owed a considerable 
sum, always bearing in mind the fact that the middle of 
last century was not the era of millionaires. A competent 



254 THE SULPICIAWS IN" THE UNITED STATES 

judge estimates the amount of the donations from various 
sources during the twenty years following the foundation 
of the college at $45,000, while the donations of the 
president alone are estimated by some as high as $70,000. 
The principal donors were Father Jenkins, Mr. William 
Meredith, Eev. J. J. Hickey, S. S., Colonel Drury, Mrs. 
Harper, a member of the Carroll family, Mr. J. Maes and 
Father J. B. Kandanne, S.S. The college received but 
little aid from scholarships. Among the contributors to 
this fund we record M. Ferte, S. S., and Mr. William 
Kennedy, who founded the first two scholarships. 

But the strictest economy on the part of the managers 
and the admirable spirit of sparing and assisting the Fa- 
thers, which impelled the students to lend their helpful' 
hands on all occasions, had a very large share in tiding 
over the early days of the institution. Professors, stu- 
dents and servants vied with one another in doing the 
farm work. There are still alive men who saw the stur- 
dier students felling trees, sawing and splitting seasoned 
logs and carrying wood during the winter. In favorable 
weather in the spring and autumn, the entire community 
might have been seen giving their holiday afternoons to 
planting and husking com, gathering hay, or binding and 
stacking sheaves of wheat, l^o sports so pleased both 
young and old as this farming work, which was usually 
rewarded by a liberal lunch consisting of bread and mo- 
lasses. Of course, these agricultural occupations ceased 
when modem labor-saving inventions made the boys' help 
less necessary, and the romantic heroism of the primitive 
age passed away. However, the teachers were the great- 
est benefactors of the institution. As members of the 
Society of St. Sulpice they had not to be solicitous for 
their support when age or sickness should put an end 
to their labors, and while they were able to work they 
were satisfied with food and raiment. 



THE COLLEGE OP ST. CHARLES, BALTIMORE 255 

The number of students attending the college in the 
semi-centennial year reached 225. In the early years of 
St. Charles', however, the capacity of the buildings largely 
influenced the number of the students. The Jubilee vol- 
ume published in 1898 informs us that forty-five was the 
largest number of students the college could accommodate 
in 1853. Two years later, by re-arranging the house and 
adding a third story, it afforded room for seventy. In 
1859, by lodging some of the students in the summer 
residence provided for the seminarians of St. Mary's, 
Baltimore, St. Charles' was able to accommodate 102. 
In 1860, notwithstanding the approach of the Civil War, 
the trustees resolved to enlarge the college. The new 
plan conceived the college originally built, which had a 
front eighty feet long and sixty feet in depth, as a wing 
of the entire edifice, the central part of which was sixty- 
seven feet long and somewhat higher than the two wings. 
Though it was intended to erect only the center of the 
edifice at this time, eventually the second wing was added 
immediately on the completion of the center. The struc- 
ture being, therefore, almost thrice the size of the original 
building, was roomy enough for the needs of the imme- 
diate future. 

In 1873, under the Eeverend Stanislas Ferte, the suc- 
cessor of Father Jenkins, the number of students having 
exceeded 190, further extensions were resolved upon and 
begun. However, the financial storm which shook the en- 
tire country towards the end of 18Y3, and the conse- 
quent diminution in the number of students, led to the 
postponement of building operations. They were resumed 
in 1876 under the Reverend P. P. Denis, who had suc- 
ceeded Father Ferte. On this occasion, the structure was 
both enlarged and beautified, and St. Charles' presented 
an architectural whole which justified the admiration of 
its students and alumni. Thenceforward it afforded am- 



256 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

pie room for 250 students. It was not destined to af- 
ford hospitality to so large a body of inmates, however, 
though their number kept constantly increasing till it 
reached 203 in 1911, the year in which the college was 
destroyed by fira 

Before finishing our story of the growth of the college 
in numbers and the extent of its buildings, we must turn 
our attention to its chapel. The Sulpicians have always 
regarded the chapels of their seminaries as an important 
educational element. We are therefore prepared to see 
them devote much taste, attention and money to the chapel 
of St. Charles' College. The original chapel was but a 
small room adjoining the entrance in the building erected 
in 1831, and served not only as a chapel for the boys but 
also as the meeting place on Sundays for the Catholics liv- 
ing in the neighborhood. In 1855, when other provision 
had been made for the external congregation, a new chapel 
for the students was opened on the second floor, where 
Divine worship was conducted with becoming dignity and 
impressiveness. 

But Father Jenkins, whose energy and enterprise 
planned the extension of the college in 1860, did not for- 
get that a fine chapel should be the most striking part of 
a Sulpician collega Accordingly, he called upon M. Fail- 
Ion, the representative of the French superior-general, a 
gentleman who had a great reputation for architectural 
skill, to furnish the plans for the new edifice. This 
turned out to be a very ambitious addition to the group 
of college buildings. It was planned in imitation of the 
Sainte Chapelle at Paris and was a building one hun- 
dred and ten feet long, thirty-four feet wide and fifty feet 
high. On this chapel, Father Jenkins lavished the greater 
part of his fortuna From the beginning of St. Charles', 
he had been, next to Mr. Carroll, the most generous sup- 



THE COLLEGE OF ST. CHARLES, BALTIMORE 257 

porter of the institution, but his heart was bound up more 
closely with the chapel than with any other part. 

Owing to the high cost of labor and materials during the 
Civil War, the chapel was not finished until 1866, but its 
dedication was made memorable by the presence of Arch- 
bishop Spalding and a large assemblage of priests from 
far and near. Well might Father Jenkins' heart be filled 
with pleasure and satisfaction to see his life-work crowned 
by so noble and suitable a building as was the new chapel, 
for even in the primitive simplicity which characterized 
it on its birthday, it challenged the admiration of the 
great crowd that witnessed its dedication. Successive gen- 
erations of old students and friends, among them all the 
bishops whom St. Charles' College had given to the 
Church, vied with one another in beautifying and dec- 
orating the home of their youthful studies, which had pre- 
pared them for the priesthood. 

The retarding of the building operations was not the 
only drawback which the college suffered from the Civil 
War, which for a time threatened the prosperity of the 
institution. In 1862, the number of applicants for en- 
trance fell from forty-five to twenty-five, but rapidly re- 
covered so as to amount to forty-two in the following year. 
Strange to say, the loss affected the students from ]^ew 
England proportionately less than the Maryland stu- 
dents. In 1861-62, only three applicants matriculated 
from the diocese of Baltimore. The crisis was rapidly 
surmounted, and thenceforth St. Charles' flourished more 
and more. 

The course of studies pursued by the students of St 
Charles' College extended over six years. It took charge 
of a boy at the end of his grammar school studies and 
fitted him for entrance into the seminary. At his en- 
trance, therefore, the student was supposed to be able to 
read and write and to know the elements of arithmetic. 



258 THE SULPICIANS 11^ THE UNITED STATES 

The course at St. Charles' corresponded in a general way 
with the course pursued in the Jesuit colleges about the 
middle of the last century except that, to this six-year 
course, the Jesuit colleges added a year of philosophy and 
somewhat more advanced science. The catalogues of the 
college do not indicate the distribution of the time among 
the various subjects taught, but it is safe to assume that a 
large proportion of it was awarded to the classics, besides 
which the course embraced algebra and geometry, French 
and English. The French course lasted six years and the 
boys might fairly be expected to master the French lan- 
guage so far as literary reading is concerned. Its mer- 
its did not fall below those of American non-Catholic col- 
leges, but were probably superior. Much attention was 
given to English, especially to practical English composi- 
tion. The English studies included a course of history 
of English literature, for which Father Jenkins wrote the 
book mentioned above. 

The mathematical course differed but little from that 
of other colleges, the Sulpicians being careful not to neg- 
lect a branch which they had especially cultivated since 
they opened their first collegiate institution at St. Mary's. 
The classical program varied most from that of the typical 
American high school and college. Of course, the usual 
Latin authors, Phsedrus, Caesar, Cicero, Ovid, Livy, Vir- 
gil, Horace and Tacitus, were the backbone of the course. 
To these, however, were added Lactantius' "De Morte Per- 
secutorum" and selections from the Fathers of the Church, 
which gave the course a somewhat religious tone. It 
should be remarked, moreover, that great emphasis was 
laid on Latin prose composition, i. e., the translation of 
English into Latin, and, to some extent, on Latin conver- 
sation. Similarly in Greek, while the traditional writers 
such as Xenophon, Homer, Plutarch and the tragedians 
were retained, the students also made the acquaintance of 



THE COLLEGE OF ST. CHAELES, BALTIMORE 259 

St. Luke's Gospel and the discourses of St. John Chrysos- 
tom, St. Gregory Nazianzen and St. Basil, In fact, both 
in the classics and in the modem languages, stress was 
laid upon the great orators. Probably this had in view 
the training of the future pulpit orator. 

The Greek was especially strong in the last two years, 
though, as it is possible that not all the authors in the cur- 
riculum were taken, but only a selection of them, the 
measure of Greek in the usual college curriculum may not 
have been exceeded. The religious instruction consisted 
in the study of various catechisms, the catechetical form 
of instruction being preferred for religious studies in St. 
Charles', as it is in most Catholic institutions. In the 
early years of the college, Butler's Catechism was the only 
textbook available; this was later replaced by Collot and 
Deharbe. Recently the Catechism of the Council of 
Trent in the original Latin has been used. 

It should be noted that the preparatory seminary, not- 
withstanding its significant name, was not overstocked 
with religious instruction, as many non-Catholic school- 
men suppose. St. Charles' College, though a lower semi- 
nary, provided for its students a complete liberal college 
education, which does not differ substantially from that of 
the traditional college. This is true not only as far as 
the study of the classical languages is concerned, but also 
in its English and historical departments. The study of 
English composition, it may be said, was always a prac- 
tical study which insisted upon the students frequently 
practising English composition in all its varieties. While 
they did not neglect the history of English literature, the 
Sulpicians did not, on the other hand, lay too much stress 
upon the history of the English classics, as is often done 
in other courses. The historical program awarded much 
more time and attention to Bible history than is custom- 
ary elsewhere. In the later years, however, the usual 



"260 THE SULPICIAira IK" THE UlflTED STATES 

historical studies were taken up and in the early his- 
tory of the college seem to suggest no special features. 
As a whole, the program of studies at St. Charles' College 
entitled it to be classed as a college in the best sense of the 
word. 

From the curriculum, we turn naturally to the faculty 
of the college. We have already laid before our readers 
the life of its first president. Father Jenkins. In its early 
days, he was practically the entire faculty of the college 
and his influence did not diminish as the years rolled by 
and the college increased in numbers and importance. 
Still, as it grew, the faculty grew with it, and the stu- 
dents felt more and more the influence of their professors. 
The peculiarly Sulpician character of the institution be- 
came more pronounced long before Father Jenkins' death. 
The thoroughness of the work in every department, the 
fidelity of the professors to their duties, their gentleman- 
liness, their sympathetic attitude and their dignified com- 
radeship were an example and a lesson to the boys, which 
taught them the duty of work and the right manner of 
working. The emphasis which their teachers laid upon 
the interior life suggested the combination of modesty and 
efficiency, while the honors which were the reward of 
those who were faithful to their studies guarded them 
against an indolent lack of interest. The man who in the 
early days of the college did perhaps more than any one 
else to impress this spirit upon the students, was Father 
Menu, whose combination of earnestness and kindness the 
alumni never forgot. On hearing of his death in 1888, 
Cardinal Gibbons spoke of him as one of the pillars of the 
college. 

Before St. Mary's was given up, and even afterwards, 
the members of the teaching body were not all Sulpicians, 
Mr. Caton, who at first was Father Jenkins' only assist- 
ant, being a student from the seminary, and until 1852, 



THE COLLEGE OF ST. CHARLES, BALTIMORE 261 

up to which time many of the Sulpicians were needed to 
teach at St. Mary's College, not a few seminarians were 
drafted to teach in St. Charles'. It even happened that 
secular priests, not formally connected with St. Sulpice, 
such as Father Griffin, were a part of the faculty for 
many years. ^ But after 1852 the number of laymen in 
the faculty became markedly less and it consisted more 
and more of Sulpicians. 

Many Sulpicians who had been most successful teach- 
ers at St. Mary's College, taught the higher classes at St. 
Charles'. Father Randanne, who has been mentioned as 
the author of a Latin grammar, long taught the Latin 
classics there. The historian Fredet also lent lustre to the 
faculty of the new college, his place as professor of his- 
tory being taken after his retirement by Rev. A. Vuibert, 
the author of an ancient and of a modem history. Some 
years ago he became the first president of a lower semi- 
nary in Menlo Park, California. Father Rince, though 
he was cut off by a premature death, had published a 
much esteemed edition of Ovid. Among the early lay 
instructors who later became priests were the late Thomas 
M. A. Burke, for many years Bishop of Albany, and the 
late Archbishop P. I. Chapelle of ^ew Orleans. Many 
Sulpicians associated with Father Jenkins in the faculty 
of St. Charles' subsequently distinguished themselves in 
other Sulpician institutions. MM. Ferte, Guilbaud, 
Rince, Dumont and Fonteneau left St. Charles' to occupy 
chairs in St. Mary's Seminary, while MM. Dumont and 
Chapuis were transferred to the Catholic University 
Seminary. The following gentlemen were successively 
promoted to the presidency of St. Charles' College: M. 
S. H. Ferte (1850-62) ; M. P. P. Denis (1876-86) ; M. 

1 Rev. H. Griffin had taught for twenty years in St. Mary's College 
when he became a member of the faculty of St. Charles'. 



262 THE SULPICIAN^S IN THE UNITED STATES 

Dumont (1886-94) ; M. C. B. Eex (1894-96) ; M. C. B. 
Schrantz (1896-1905) ; F. X. McKenny (1905-13). 

By the terms of its charter, St. Charles' College was a 
lower seminary for the preparation of youths intending 
to devote themselves to the priesthood. Its graduates, 
therefore, must be sought for principally in the ranks of 
the Catholic clergy, primarily of the diocese of Balti- 
more, but also in many other dioceses throughout the 
United States and even Canada. As is well known, how- 
ever, while their students are under their care, the gen- 
tlemen of St. Sulpice watchfully observe them. If they 
become convinced that a student does not promise to be- 
come a worthy shepherd of the fold of Christ, they frankly 
inform him of the fact, and he is free to devote himself 
to another profession. Of course, if the student him- 
self reaches the conclusion that the ministry is not the 
place for him, no obstacle is placed in the way of his 
withdrawal. The number of such withdrawals is by no 
means small, and proves how careful the Sulpicians are, 
on the one hand, to provide the Church with a worthy 
clergy, and, on the other, to seek the happiness of their 
students in a fitting and congenial vocation. 

The statistics on this point furnished by the Jubilee 
volume of St. Charles' in 1898 are not only interesting but 
instructive. We learn that during the period from 1848 
to 1888, of 2,109 students that passed through the institu- 
tion, 761, or 36 per cent, were promoted to the priesthood. 
This may appear a small percentage, but not if we bear 
in mind that in a six years' college course some students 
die, many are obliged to give up their studies because 
of ill-health or in order to assist parents who require their 
help, and that, among so large a number of boys entering 
the college at the age of thirteen or fourteen, many must 
naturally find that they have not the taste nor talent to 
warrant their continuing the experiment. The experi- 



THE COLLEGE OF ST. CHAELES, BALTIMORE 263 

ence of other high schools and colleges teaches that the 
percentage of students graduated is certainly not more 
than one-half of those who began their academic studies. 

The efficiency of an institution can be best tested by its 
fruits. The entire Catholic clergy of the United States 
constitute a body respected for their attention to duty, 
their charity and their labors for the cause of social prog- 
ress. It is unnecessary to say more than that the alumni 
of the Sulpicians share this general esteem. That they 
have contributed a proportionate share of the men, who, 
as members of the hierarchy, have been called to the gov- 
ernment of the Catholic Church, its annals testify. At 
the head of this picked body of scholars and administra- 
tors, St. Charles' College glories in its own favorite son, 
the present archbishop of Baltimore. Among the metro- 
politans, it points with pride to Archbishops William H. 
Gross of Oregon City, J. J. Kain of St. Louis, and John 
J. Keane of Dubuque; and among the bishops, to the 
Eight Reverend P. T. O'Reilly of Springfield, J. O'Sul- 
livan of Mobile, T. M. A. Burke of Albany, George 
Montgomery of San Francisco, and John J. Monaghan of 
Wilmington. It would tire the patience of our readers to 
name the alumni of St. Charles' who have achieved dis- 
tinction as orators, administrators and, above all, worthy 
shepherds and advisers of the rich and the poor. 

In fact, it is not an easy matter to select from the 
thousands of names of worthy priests those who have 
eclipsed their fellow-clergymen. Yet we cannot, in jus- 
tice to the college and to its students, refrain from 
mentioning a few, at the same time begging the pardon of 
perhaps hundreds who may be equally worthy of being 
recorded. The first names we shall mention are those of 
two Sulpicians, the Reverend Charles B. Rex, for some 
years the beloved president of the college, who did much 
to extend and beautify the buildings, and the Reverend 



2(54 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

Edward K. Dyer, who has been the successful head of St. 
Mary's Seminary for many years. Among the noted ora- 
tors from St. Charles' are the Right Reverend Mgr. Wil- 
liam T. Russell, of St. Patrick's Church, Washington, D. 
C, the Paulist, Father Bertrand L. Conway, and the Sum- 
mer School lecturer, Father Bernard M. Began. The 
Reverend Dr. Edward A. Pace, professor of philosophy at 
the Catholic University in Washington, is one of the most 
distinguished scholars whom America owes to St. Charles'. 
The Reverend Dr. Philip J. Garrigan, after rendering 
eminent service to his theological alma mater at Troy, 
was appointed vice-rector of the Catholic University in 
Washington. Since then he has been promoted to the see 
of Sioux City. 

In 1898 the college celebrated the fiftieth year of its 
existence. The celebration attracted to its halls the Arch- 
bishops of Baltimore, many bishops and a little army of 
clerical alumni who revived the exploits of their youthful 
days and congratulated one another on the distinction 
achieved by its alumni and the services rendered by them 
to the Church and their country. Providence had des- 
tined that this should be the last great gathering of the 
sons of St. Charles' at its old home near EUicott City. 
A few years later, on March 16, 1911, a fire destroyed 
the old college, hallowed by the memories of Father Jen- 
kins and so many of his worthy coadjutors. But this dis- 
aster was but the occasion of fresh effort and of greater 
success. A new and more beautiful college, in a more 
convenient position at Catonsville, has taken the place of 
the buildings consecrated by the success of more than fifty 
years and bids fair to scatter blessings a hundredfold over 
the diocese of Baltimore and the United States.^ 

1 See in Appendix the tribute of Cardinal Gibbons to the character 
of the training given by St. Charles' College. 




Chapel of Our Lady of the Angels, 
Old St. Charles. 



Chapte* XII 

SULPICIAN MiSSIONAEY BiSHOPS 

Simon Gabriel Brute John Joseph Chanehe 

Samuel Eccleston Guy Ignatius Chabrat 

Augustine Verot 

In Chapter VII has been told the story of the early 
Sulpician missionaries from Bishop Flaget to Archbishop 
Marechal. The first Council of Baltimore (1829) had 
inaugurated the systematic development of the Catholic 
Church in the United States, and the work was under 
way at the death of Archbishop Marechal in 1828. The 
episcopate had been organized so as to provide a regular 
government for the Church in all its parts ; its clergy had 
been multiplied and, while still leaving room for mission- 
ary effort, had for the most part become a permanent 
force throughout the greater part of the country. The 
principles according to which the bishops and the pastors 
were to be selected had been at least provisionally settled 
at Eome, and the seminaries and colleges required for the 
Church's development and propagation had been estab- 
lished where they were most vitally needed. 

The native priesthood which Archbishop Carroll, M. 
Emery and the Sulpician founders of St. Mary's Semi- 
nary at Baltimore regarded as the most essential need of 
the infant American Church, and for which they had 
prayed and worked so earnestly, promised a supply of en- 
ergetic and wise bishops. The Society of St. Sulpice had 
from its foundation disapproved of the promotion of its 
members to the episcopate, but the rules and interests of 

265 



266 ^THE SUiPICIAN'S IN THE UNITED STATES 

the company had been subordinated to the exigencies of 
the period and, up to 1830, the Society of St. Sulpice had 
furnished a very large proportion of the American 
bishops. 

The Society of St. Sulpice, both in France and in the 
United States, worked with singular consistency and per- 
sistency for what they considered the essential purpose 
and end of their Company, and gradually they resigned 
to other hands the care of the colleges they had founded, 
the convents they had helped to establish, the parishes 
they had organized, withdrawing more and more to the re- 
tirement of their class-rooms. Moreover, the individual 
Sulpicians had always shrunk from the dignities of the 
episcopate. From Flaget to Marechal they had striven 
to escape its burdens and, as far as was consistent with 
obedience, resisted the Koman bulls placing that burden 
upon their shoulders. The bishops who were taken 
from the ranks of the Company after 1830 were as 
loyal to the principles of their founder as were Flaget and 
Marechal, but like them, they were forced to yield to the 
Eoman pontiffs, who wisely saw in them the very men 
demanded by the special needs of some dioceses. Their 
mission, however, was gradually changed and while their 
predecessors travelled thousands of miles to perform their 
episcopal functions, the new generation of prelates trav- 
elled merely hundreds. The Indians had been gradually 
driven to the West. In fact, the dioceses governed by 
the later Sulpician bishops were normal in their organi- 
zation and in their demands upon their chief pastors. 
Gradually the number of Sulpician bishops became pro- 
portionately fewer and when, in 1848, the Company of St. 
Sulpice had re-established itself in the form conceived by 
MM. Olier and Emery and devoted itself exclusively to 
the training of priests and bishops, its members ceased 
to fill the sees of the country and were content to prepare 



STTLPICIAN MISSIONARY BISHOPS 267 

worthy bishops for the multiplied dioceses of the United 
States. 



I. — Right Reverend Simon Gabriel Brute, Bishop of 

VlNCENNES 

The Sulpician bishops of whom we have hitherto 
spoken were men who had grown up during the French 
Revolution or during the years immediately preceding it. 
The subject of the present sketch belongs to the same class. 

Simon Gabriel Brute, the first Bishop of Vincennes, 
was born at Rennes and was therefore, like many of his 
Sulpician confreres, a native of Brittany. His father, 
who had had charge of the royal domains in Brittany, 
had died in Simon's childhood. He was therefore brought 
up by his mother, a woman of character, who devoted her- 
self to the boy's education. After completing his prelim- 
inary studies in his native town, he was preparing to en- 
ter the polytechnic school when the French Revolution 
upset his plans. His mother was obliged to open a print- 
ing office and young Brute became a type-setter. In 1796 
his improved fortune enabled him to study medicine at 
Rennes, whence he proceeded to Paris in 1799. He was 
graduated in 1803, taking the first prize among upwards 
of a thousand competitors. 

^Notwithstanding his success in his medical studies, his 
graduation turned his thoughts in a wholly different direc- 
tion. He determined to give himself to the Church and 
entered the Sulpician Seminary at Paris, where he was or- 
dained in 1808. His scholarly acquirements are said to 
have attracted the attention of the Emperor !N'apoleon, 
who proposed to make him his chaplain, but M. Brute 
preferred to join the Society of St. Sulpice, and became a 
director in the seminary of his native city. While en- 
gaged in this work (1810), he met Bishop Flaget, who 



268 THE SULPICIANS IN ^HE UNITED STATES 

was seeking recruits for tlie American mission. Inas- 
much as M. Brute had already had his thoughts turned 
in this direction, and as iNTapoleon was on the point of sup- 
pressing the Company of St. Sulpice, he determined to 
follow Bishop Flaget's suggestion, and, with the consent of 
his superiors, he left for the United States and landed at 
Baltimore in the same year. 

He did not remain idle very long, being entrusted with 
a professorship of philosophy in St. Mary's Seminary, 
which he filled for two years. Then he was called to Em- 
mitsburg to teach, to do missionary work and to assist 
Mother Seton in laying the foundation of her Sisterhood, 
to promote which he used his utmost efforts. However, he 
did not lose his interest in St. Mary's Seminary, Baltimore. 
During his student years and those of his professorship 
in France his scholarly instincts had led him to accumu- 
late a large theological and scientific library, numbering 
5,000 volumes, a very large collection of books one hundred 
years ago. This collection he took with him to the United 
States and after leaving it for a time at St. Mary's Semi- 
nary, took it with him to Mt. St. Mary's and later to 
Vincennes. On his return to Baltimore, he was named 
president of St. Mary's College, but his health, which was 
never very robust, soon brought him back to Emmitsburg, 
where he was pastor of the congregation and chaplain of 
the Sisters of Charity, besides gradually taking upon his 
shoulders the duties of a whole theological and scientific 
faculty. He lectured on the Sacred Scriptures and taught 
philosophy and ethics in the seminary, as well as the nat- 
ural sciences in the college. 

When in 1826 Mount St. Mary's was separated from 
St. Sulpice and M. Dubois became Bishop of ilsrew York, 
M. Brute remained at Emmitsburg and continued to in- 
struct the seminarians and advise the Sisters of Charity. 
His fame as a sound authority on every branch of theology 




Et. Eev. Simon Gabriel Brute, 
First Bishop of Vinceimes. 



SULPICIAN MISSIONARY BISHOPS 26^ 

and science had become nation-wide. He was consulted 
as an oracle by the bishops of the United States, many of 
whom had sat at his feet as students. In fact, during 
these years he was, if possible, more than ever true to 
Sulpician ideals. In 1833 the second Council of Balti- 
more took place and proposed to Eome the creation of sev- 
eral new bishoprics, among them that of Yincennes, which 
was to include the State of Indiana and the greater part 
of Illinois. When the American bishops looked around 
for the fittest man to fill the see, they unanimously named 
the learned professor of Emmitsburg. But M. Brute had 
the true Sulpician aversion to a miter. He made a re- 
treat among his old confreres of St. Sulpice and care- 
fully set down all his reasons for not accepting the prof- 
fered dignity. At last, he submitted the question to his 
friend. Bishop Flaget. That wise counselor decided that 
M. Brute was just the man for Vincennes, and the learned 
scholar of Mt. St. Mary's thereupon assumed the direction 
of the flock in what was at that time a part of the wild 
West. 

Like Bishop Flaget when he wished to start for Bards- 
town, M. Brute had not the means to pay for the jour- 
ney to his diocese, but at last the Sisters of Charity came 
to his aid and gave him $200. He was consecrated by 
Bishop Flaget in the new cathedral of St. Louis on Oc- 
tober 28, 1834. The Catholics of his episcopal city, as 
well as those of his entire diocese, gave him a royal wel- 
come, and before long Bishop Brute was one of the most 
popular men in the States of Illinois and Indiana. One 
of his first thoughts was to establish a diocesan seminary, 
and so strong was the old Sulpician within him, that when 
he was able to realize this project he took great delight in 
acting as professor. 

But we can give no better account of Bishop Brute's ac- 
tivity and no better description of the condition of a west- 



270 THE SULPICIANS IN- THE UNITED STATES 

ern diocese in the early thirties of the nineteenth cen- 
tury, than by citing a letter dated l!^ovemher 25, 1835, 
from the bishop to the editor of the "Annals of the Propa- 
gation of the Faith." ^ 

". . . . After the departure of the bishops, I visited 
several portions of my diocese and blessed a new plain 
frame church in a village where I found 150 Catholic 
families. I placed them under the invocation of thei 
Blessed Virgin. I then returned to Vincennes, where I 
stayed for eight months until I left for France. I was 
therefore the pastor in a double sense, for I performed all 
the marriages and funerals in person; in a word, attend- 
ing to all the duties of a parish priest. I had found there 
as a cathedral a sufficiently large building 115 x 60 feet, 
but absolutely bare; it had not even been plastered. A 
poor wooden altar with six candlesticks and a crucifix, a 
gift coming from France, were the entire furniture of 
the church. I put into it a small painting of St. Francis 
Xavier, eight inches high, to prove that he was the patron 
of the church, and on the walls I placed two pictures, one 
of the Blessed Virgin and the other of St. Joseph, to mark 
the spot where I intend later on to place the two altars. 
On Sundays I officiated in this church alone in the sanc- 
tuary with some altar boys dressed -in ragged surplices. 
A Canadian schoolmaster together with a few inhabitants 
of the town helped to sing parts of the Mass. On Christ- 
mas, on Easter day and Whitsunday, I thought I was 
obliged to celebrate pontifical High Mass. Then I went 
to the altar with crozier, miter and cope ; I placed in read- 
iness near a throne covered with a beautiful borrowed rug 
both my crozier and my miter. I put the latter on and 
took it off myself. 

1 "Bulletin Trimestriel," pt. VIII, p. 226. 



SULPICIAN MISSIOl^-AEY BISHOPS 271 

"On my arrival I published a pastoral letter in English. 
I placed the diocese under the protection of the Blessed 
Virgin and speaking to Catholics and Protestants alike, I 
tried to make them understand the great favor heaven 
granted them in permitting the establishment of a new 
see. This letter was, for the most part, well received. I 
explained it in French from the pulpit, and I saw my 
hearers alive to the hopes which I made them entertain. 
It is sad to think that of all this old French population 
of Vincennes, only a few persons can read; English is 
almost the universal language, except in some parts of 
the diocese where the Germans are quite numerous and 
need priests that can understand them. 

"At the time of my consecration, I had only two 
priests; at present I have four, viz., M. Ruff of the dio- 
cese of Metz; M. Femeding, whom Bishop Flaget was 
kind enough to loan me for the Germans of the Southeast 
near the border of Ohio; M. Lalumiere, a native of Vin- 
cennes and the first priest of Indiana who was ordained by 
the Bishop of Bardstown. The fourth was sent to me by 
the Propaganda. He was about to arrive when I left. 
I had the pleasure of meeting him on the way. He is now 
oflBciating at Vincennes. Mgr. Rosati has also consented 
to send for the time M. St. Cyr, a native of Lyons, to Chi- 
cago on Lake Michigan, whom he had recalled at the 
time I was consecrated. 

"When I departed, these four priests whom I have just 
mentioned were stationed at the four ends of the compass 
of a territory that in extent is equal to almost one-third 
of France. Except M. Lalumiere, stationed eight or nine 
leagues from Vincennes, all the others reside fifty to sixty- 
five leagues away. Moreover, each of them travels con- 
siderable distances from his station in order to visit the 
scattered Catholics. So it happens that some of them pass 
a month without being able to communicate with their con- 



272 THE SUIiPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

f reres and this is one of the greatest trials they have to 
bear. But I hope that soon some good priests stationed 
at intermediate places will make their intercourse more 
frequent. 

"The care of the young was one of the first objects of 
my solicitude. I found that First Communions had been 
greatly neglected. At Christmas I had the consolation 
of seeing twenty young people make their First Com- 
munion and at Easter, sixty. A great part of the First 
Communicants were eighteen to twenty years old. I in- 
structed them as well as my many occupations and the sick 
calls allowed. These sometimes took me several leagues 
from home. I thought I noticed considerable talent in 
some of these youths, which made me regret that I had 
no college to test their fitness and their inclination for 
the holy priesthood. It must be my first endeavor to pre- 
pare young men for the clergy. But, of course, several 
years must pass before I can have native priests. Mean- 
while, and even to educate these young Levites, I must 
have candidates and I can look for them only in the old 
dioceses. May the Lord inspire several young men with 
this grand and holy vocation. 

"To inquiries about the number of Catholics in my dio- 
cese I find it difficult to reply- I do not think there are 
less than 25,000, but I cannot state any precise figures. 
The population of Indiana, which in 1800 numbered 
4,800, at present exceeds 500,000. In the part of Illinois 
which belongs to my diocese, 80,000 is supposed to be the 
number. This population is spread over 6,000 square 
leagues. Th6 Catholics are dispersed here and there in 
groups more or less considerable. Their scattered condi- 
tion forbids my guessing their number. Irish immigrants 
at the beginning, and of late years Bavarians, formed the 
majority of the Catholic population here. But what is 
most sad is, that in their scattered condition, their salva- 



STJXPICIAN MISSIONARY BISHOPS 273 

tion is greatly endangered and even in case of sickness, the 
consolations of religion are obtained with difficulty. 

''In general the immigrants here keep their faith. The 
lack of all faith becomes too striking in the midst of the 
many sects that are busy in the United States, not to in- 
spire contempt for infidels. But as they are so rarely 
visited by the missionaries, some remain Catholics only 
in name. They yield to bad example and surrender to a 
culpable indifference and their children whom they do not 
instruct end by becoming the prey of the sectaries who 
offer them a thousand temptations. 

"From Vincennes, I was often obliged to travel great 
distances. So that when I tell you that in eight months, 
besides my manifold duties, I have been obliged to travel 
more than one hundred leagues on horseback, this estimate, 
which may seem exaggerated, is really below the truth. A 
single trip which I undertook to visit distant Chicago, the 
Indians of M. Badin and those of the Tippecanoe Biver, 
extended over two hundred leagues. Luckily I have re- 
covered my skill in horse riding to an extent that I did 
not look for. Besides, the still longer trips of our older 
missionaries, stationed at the present time at various 
points of the country, forbid me to complain of this duty 
which is made necessary by the nature of the country 
where everything must be created in order to give it to the 
Church. 

"Since I have mentioned the Indians, I must say a few 
words about them. I visited those of the village of Poke- 
gan near the confines of my diocese, which belongs to the 
diocese of Detroit, though a part of the inhabitants re- 
side in Indiana, then the Indians of the village of Chit- 
chakos near the Tippecanoe Biver, twenty-five leagues 
south of the former. In the latter place I gave Confirma- 
tion to sixty Bedskins. 

"I was moved by the piety and recollection of these 



274 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

Indians. They pray witli wonderful fervor and reproach 
themselves for the least distraction. They have printed 
books in the Ottawa language, containing prayers, a cate- 
chism and hymns. They readily learn how to read and 
several know all of these books by heart. You must not 
infer hence that it is easy to civilize them. M. Desseille, 
a Flemish priest of the diocese of Detroit, who has just 
visited the village of Pokegan, where he resides, and 
who is very much attached to them, believes it would be 
very difficult to teach them farming, but he thinks that it 
would be easier to teach them herding. . . . The policy 
of the United States is knovm to exclude from all civilized 
states and to send beyond the Mississippi all the savages, 
a policy which drives the Indians to despair. The num- 
ber of Indians in Indiana is estimated at 4,000. During 
my stay in the village of Chitchakos the good Indians, 
delighted to see the great prayer chief in the midst of 
them, wished to give him a mark of regard and at the 
same time so far as possible to secure for themselves the 
help of religion. They met in council ; then in the name 
of all, their chief Chitchakos ^ offered in a speech full of 
kind sentiment a site for a church and 320 acres for a 
school." 

Having closely surveyed his diocese and studied its 
needs, Bishop Brute, in 1835, sailed for France, where 
he asked help of his friends. To the Society for the Prop- 
agation of the Faith he appealed for financial assistance, 
which was granted him, and to secure clerical help he 
made a tour of some of the French seminaries. At the 
same time, he paid his ad limina visit to the Holy City, 
and was everywhere received with the greatest good will 
and honor. He brought back with him to Yincennes 
twenty priests and seminarians who had volunteered to 

, 1 He was a Pottowatomie chief. 



SULPICIAN MISSIONARY BISHOPS 275 

join him. He was welcomed home enthusiastically by 
both Catholics and non-Catholics and proceeded at once to 
use his European alms to the best advantage. 

His first care was to establish a diocesan seminary, 
some of the students for which he had brought back with 
him. An asylum next provided for the little orphans of 
his flock, and a free high school supplied the means neces- 
sary for the future aspirants to the priesthood. He com- 
pleted and adorned his cathedral and erected simple but 
adequate churches in many towns of the state. Having 
again visited the parishes of his diocese, he settled down 
in his see, resuming his old occupation of professor of 
theology at the seminary, and w^riting every second week 
to his parish priests to encourage and direct them. On 
Saturdays he heard confessions and was ever at the call 
of the sick and dying. !N'ot satisfied with this episcopal 
and pastoral activity, he contributed to the ^'Catholic 
Telegraph'' of Cincinnati a series of articles on the early 
history of his diocese. In short, he was an indefatigable 
worker in the Lord's vineyard. 

Amid all this work for his regular flock, he did not for- 
get the poor Indians, the faithful Pottowatomies who, at 
the beginning of his episcopate, had so generously given 
him the site for a Catholic church and school. The de- 
cree of Congress forced them to emigrate against their 
will to the Indian Territory, and Bishop Brute had sent 
Father Petit to accompany them for 500 miles, to con- 
sole them and assist them to found their new homes. At 
the same time, however, he was actively visiting various 
parts of his diocese, although they were ravaged by cholera 
and other contagious diseases. The bishop did not hesi- 
tate to bring the last consolations of religion to the stricken 
sufferers, and this in spite of the fact that since his Euro- 
pean journey his health had been far from robust. 

In the winter of 1837 he set out to attend the Third 



276 THE SULPICIANS 11?^ THE UNITED STATES 

Council of Baltimore. He travelled on an old-fashioned 
stage and was seated in front of tlie vehicle near the 
driver, exposed to the winds and the weather. Here he 
<}ontracted a cold, which gradually developed into con- 
sumption. But even when his strength was ebbing and 
his body was wracked by disease he continued to visit the 
sick and to give them the last sacraments. It is recorded 
that after he was infected by the disease which proved 
fatal, he travelled four hundred miles, visiting various 
parts of his diocese. An apostle of charity to the last, he 
made sick calls when in fact he was more ill than the 
sufferers he visited, and when confined to his home he 
used his pen to appeal to persons who had given up the 
practice of their religious duties. At last, having given 
to all an example of Christian faith, charity and patience, 
he slept in the Lord on June 26, 1839, at the age of sixty 
years. 

Bishop Brute's extraordinary activity may be gauged 
in part by the material results of his five years' episco- 
pate. When he went to Vincennes to assume the adminis- 
tration of his diocese, he found one priest to help him. In 
the year after his arrival the diocese is credited with 
three churches, six stations and two priests. In 1839, 
when he had been bishop less than ^Ye years, his diocese 
numbered twenty-three priests, twenty-three churches, 
forty-eight stations, one seminary with twenty clerical stu- 
dents, one college, one girls' school, one convent and two 
charitable institutions. 



II. — Most Eevekend Samuel Eccleston, 
Archbishop of Baltimore 

The fifth Archbishop of Baltimore, Samuel Eccleston, 
was the first native American member of the Society of 



SULPICIAN MISSIONARY BISHOPS 277 

St. Sulpice raised to the episcopal dignity. He was of 
English extraction and a convert to the Catholic Church. 
He was born in 1801 in Kent County, Maryland, where 
his grandfather, a gentleman of good English family, had 
settled. The archbishop's father died when Samuel was 
but a boy, and his widow afterwards married a Catholic 
gentleman named Stenson, which marriage was followed 
by her conversion. When Samuel was sent to St. Mary's 
College he was still a Protestant, but during his residence 
at the college he became convinced of the claims of the 
Catholic Church to be the only true Church, and accord- 
ingly he acted on this conviction. 

As a student, Samuel Eccleston displayed talents of 
an unusual order, especially as an orator, and even before 
his graduation he represented his fellow-students on the 
Fourth of July and other occasions. At the same time, 
he was a youth of extraordinary piety. It was not sur- 
prising, therefore, when, at the end of his college course, 
he entered the seminary, where he was ordained in 1825. 
He then applied to be admitted into the Society of St. 
Sulpice and went to France to make his novitiate in the 
Solitude at Issy. Returned thence in 1827, he was 
forthwith charged with the vice-presidency of St. Mary's 
College, where he proved himself as able a disciplinarian 
as he was a scholar and instructor. 

His success led to his being named president of the 
college in 1829. As such, he gained the confidence not 
only of his fellow Sulpicians, but also of Archbishop 
Whitfield, who, when his health failed and he felt that 
the end of his life was near, looked around for the man 
best fitted to be his successor, and was before long con- 
vinced that the young president of St. Mary's College 
was the mau. This was not his opinion only, but that of 
most of the other American bishops, notwithstanding the 
extreme youth of Father Eccleston, who was then only 



278 THE SULPICIAJiTS 11^ THE UNITED STATES 

thirty-three years old. The insistence of all his clerical 
superiors overcame the candidate's reluctance to accept 
the new dignity, and on September 14, 1834, he was con- 
secrated coadjutor to Bishop Whitfield, with the title of 
Bishop of Thermias. The death only a month after of 
Mgr. Whitfield made him Archbishop of Baltimore, and 
in E^ovember, 1835, the arrival of the pallium from Home 
clothed him with all the powers of the metropolitan. 

The new prelate was a very pious man, determined to 
do his duty to the full, looking about everywhere for 
the interests of religion and anxious to act in the spirit 
of the Church in all things. Archbishop Whitfield 
had been an invalid for some time before his death and 
thus unable to perform those duties of his office which 
would have required him to leave his home. The new 
archbishop lost no time, but set forth at once to admin- 
ister confirmation in his own diocese and that of Rich- 
mond. It was said that before his death there was not 
a place in Maryland and Virginia, no matter how small 
its parish, that he had not visited several times. 

Having become acquainted with the various needs of 
his flock, he proceeded to supply them. The German 
Catholics in the city of Baltimore had grown so numer- 
ous and the difficulties of finding acceptable pastors for 
them so great, that he called to his aid the German Re- 
demptorists, who in a short time gathered a numerous 
congregation in the newly built church of St. Alphonsus.^ 
For other reasons he appealed for help to several of the 
religious orders, for instance the Lazarists. To provide 
the means of spreading education, religious and secular, 
he summoned from France the Christian Brothers, a body 
of men founded by Saint John Baptist de la Salle, an 
alumnus of St. Sulpice. Their principal school, Calvert 

1 Long before, however, St. John's Church had been used by the Ger- 
man Catholics. 



SULPICIAN MISSIONARY BISHOPS 279 

Hall, soon became a well known and popular institution 
in Baltimore. Nor did he forget to come to the relief 
of the sick and the orphans by the foundation of hospitals 
and asylums. 

Archbishop Whitfield, recognizing the importance of 
helping the spread of truth, not only among Catholics, 
but among their separated brethren, had begun the for- 
mation of a Catholic press by founding a weekly journal 
called "The Metropolitan." Archbishop Eccleston en- 
deavored to extend and intensify the movement thus in- 
augurated. To make known Catholic truth in clear and 
vigorous language, calculated to reach the educated and 
even the less intelligent, he called into life the Catholic 
Tract Society, appealing to his old and faithful con- 
freres of St. Mary's Seminary and to his clergy in gen- 
eral to furnish the necessary literature. His success was 
such that the resulting pamphlets were afterwards gath- 
ered into several volumes, which proved of great service 
in dissipating error and spreading the truth. He sought 
to place Catholic works within the reach of all those com- 
mitted to his care by providing cheap editions of the most 
serviceable books, and in 1837 the Catholic hierarchy pro- 
moted his plans by helping him financially. In 1843 the 
Archbishop turned over the remainder of this fund 
($600) to the Sulpician Fathers, to help the Metropoli- 
tan Press, which they had established for the furtherance 
of his scheme. This Press printed larger works at reason- 
able prices, for instance, Alban Butler's "Lives of the 
Saints." This plan, however, was abandoned, as experi- 
ence proved that private enterprise was likely to produce 
more satisfactory results. 

How earnest and successful the archbishop was in 
bringing into being the preparatory seminary so long de- 
sired by his predecessors, we have already told. His share 



280 THE SULPICIAXS IN THE UNITED STATES 

in creating this new institution justly entitles him to 
the name of second foimder of St. Charles' College. 

What was especially characteristic of his government of 
the metropolitan province of Baltimore was the frequency 
with which he called together his suffragan bishops to 
deliberate in provincial councils. Up to 1847 Baltimore 
was the only metropolitan see and the councils held un- 
der Archbishop Eccleston were therefore national coun- 
cils in all except name. According to the recommenda- 
tions of the Council of Trent, he gathered the bishops of 
the Church around him every third or fourth year to de- 
vise plans for the development of the American Church, 
for ensuring its prosperity and the prevention of abuses, 
whether existing or imminent. Five times the prelates of 
the American Church assembled in the city of Baltimore 
under the wise guidance of the metropolitan, and delib- 
erated concerning what measures would strengthen the 
growing Church. They cautioned their flocks against the 
dangers of secret societies and mixed marriages ; they pro- 
vided safeguards for the valid reception of the sacrament 
of marriage; they exhorted Catholic parents to provide 
Christian schools for their children; they took measures 
for the most useful employment of pious and charitable 
funds; they made provision for the support of aged and 
infirm priests; lastly, they begged the Holy Father to 
place their native country under the patronage of the 
Mother of God, immaculately conceived, and to declare 
the Immaculate Conception a dogma of the Church. 
Surely, when we look back upon the history of the past 
sixty or seventy years, we cannot but admire the wisdom 
and the piety of these measures, nor refuse to acknowledge 
our indebtedness to the care and solicitude of Archbishop 
Eccleston. 

Besides the work thus summarized, the Rve Councils 
of Baltimore presided over by Archbishop Eccleston be- 



SULPICIAN MISSIONAET BISHOPS 281 

stowed a special care on the organization of the Church 
as necessitated by its rapid growth. The Third Council 
of Baltimore (1837) was attended by the metropolitan 
and nine suffragans. Almost every one of the following 
councils, recognizing the needs of the various parts of 
the great republic, recommended to Eome the creation 
of several new sees and Kome acted upon the suggestion 
of the American bishops. At this time, however, Great 
Britain still claimed the Northwest Territory, including 
the present States of Oregon and Washington as a part of 
its domain. Rome was led by these British claims to 
create an Archdiocese of Oregon or Portland, with Walla- 
walla and Vancouver as its suffragans. Oregon had 
hitherto been considered a part of the diocese of St. Louis, 
and thus a see newly created was made to outrank the 
diocese of which it had been a part This led Rome to 
create St. Louis an archdiocese in 1847. 

At the council officially designated as the Seventh Coun- 
cil of Baltimore (1849), there were present two arch- 
bishops and twenty-three bishops. Nothing impresses the 
great growth of Catholicity in the United States under 
Archbishop Eccleston more strongly upon the mind than 
these figures. For to the increase in the number of sees 
there was a corresponding increase throughout the length 
and breadth of the land in the number of the faithful, of 
the priests, of the churches, and of educational and chari- 
table institutions of all kinds. Archbishop Eccleston in 
1849 might therefore feel justly satisfied with the result 
of his stewardship. 

Two years later the archbishop was called to his re- 
ward. He was still a young man, having just passed 
his fiftieth year. His tall stature and vigorous voice 
betokened strength and energy and he had been an en- 
ergetic shepherd of his flock for seventeen years. But in 
1851 hi^ health declined. To combat ftis increasing 



282 THE SULPICIAN"S IN" THE UNITED STATES 

weakness he took up his residence near the convent of 
the Visitation in Georgetown, where all the care and at- 
tention which medical skill and the affection of his friends 
could suggest were lavished upon him, but in vain. He 
grew feebler and feebler and on April 22, 1851, he gently 
passed away, an example of piety in death as he had 
been in life. 

III. — ^EiGHT Eeveeend John Maey Joseph Chanche, 
Bishop of !N'atchez 

The closest friend of Archbishop Eccleston was John 
Mary Joseph Chanche, S.S., who died Bishop of ITatchez. 
Though ^YO years older than Archbishop Eccleston (he 
was bom October 4, 1795), the two had met in early life 
at St. Mary's College and there formed a friendship 
which bound them together throughout life. Eccleston 
was of English extraction, Chanche the son of a San Do- 
mingo refugee who had settled in Baltimore only a few 
years before his birth. He became a student at St. Mary's 
College at the early age of eleven, and at sixteen we find 
him a teacher at that institution. From 1818 both the 
friends were instructors at the college, and taught there 
together for many years. Meantime, they had both grown 
up to be tall and stately young men, dignified and pol- 
ished gentlemen, both distinguished for oratorical talents 
and characterized by the poise which inspires respect and 
gives authority. Archbishop Marechal ordained M. 
Chanche in 1819. 

In 1829, when M. Eccleston became president of the 
college, M. Chanche was promoted to the vice-presidency, 
and he became his friend's successor as president when 
the latter was raised to the dignity of Archbishop of Bal- 
timore. When Archbishop Whitfield was seeking a co- 
adjutor who should be his successor. Bishop Fenwick of 



SULPICIAN MISSIONARY BISHOPS 283 

Boston warmly advocated M. Chanche for the oflfice, but 
M. Chanche succeeded in persuading the archbishop to 
prefer M. Eccleston, though five years his junior. The 
Bishop of Boston, however, was so entirely convinced that 
M. Chanche was eminently fitted to occupy the episcopal 
see that he proposed him first to be his own coadjutor in 
Boston, and afterwards as Bishop Dubois' coadjutor in 
ISTew York. But M. Chanche with the aid of his friend, 
the Archbishop of Baltimore, again escaped the episcopal 
dignity and meanwhile raised St. Mary's College to 
greater and greater prosperity. But notwithstanding his 
obstinate refusal of the miter, he was destined not to 
escape it. The Third Council of Baltimore in 1837 pro- 
posed the creation of several new sees, among them that 
of ilSratchez, in the State of Mississippi, and for this place 
the Fathers of the Council proposed the learned presi- 
dent of St. Mary's College. Though we hear of no fur- 
ther opposition on his part, it is likely that he again tried 
to avoid the promotion, for he was not consecrated bishop 
until 1841. 

To an ambitious man, the see of Natchez offered but 
few attractions, but much and hard work for a zealous 
and vigorous shepherd. He tells us himself in 1845 that 
when he was installed as Bishop of Natchez he found 
not a single church or institution and only four priests, 
one of whom was on his death-bed and the others were 
about to leave the diocese. Where was he to begin when 
everything remained to be done? He did not hesitate, 
but began forthwith to build his cathedral, which he 
dedicated to the Mother of God and which proved to be 
a respectable monument of architecture. At the same 
time he scoured every part of the State of Mississippi, 
doing what he could to help his flock to erect the much 
needed churches. In 1848 the Seton Sisters from Em- 



284 THE SULPICIAIsrS IN THE UNITED STATES 

mitsburg came to take charge of an orphan asylum, which 
was sadly needed. 

Like most bishops of his time, he found it necessary 
to seek assistance in Europe, and so in 1848-49 we find 
him in France, in search of men and money. Nor was 
he disappointed, for besides an alms from the ever chari- 
table Society of the Propagation of the Faith, he brought 
back to his diocese a number of priests from Brittany, 
that never-failing source of aid to the young American 
Church. With these new resources he renewed his ef- 
forts to help the poor and scattered Catholics of his dio- 
cese. Soon his clerical recruits were vigorously at work 
and we hear of churches springing up throughout the 
State, Some of the missionaries visited the various parts 
of the diocese that had not yet been provided with churches, 
and found to their satisfaction that there were many more 
Catholics than the most sanguine had suspected. Whites 
and blacks came at the call of the priests and one ancient 
colored woman from Maryland, who had not seen a priest 
for twenty years, but had remained true to the Faith, 
proved a source of special satisfaction to the missionary. 

Bishop Chanche's zealous labors naturally weakened his 
constitution and during the year 1850 he was for the 
most part an invalid. But he had much to encourage 
him, for in 1851, ten years after his consecration, in ad- 
dition to his cathedral, he had eleven priests, eleven 
churches and thirty-two missionary stations. So with 
hopeful heart he set out to attend the First Plenary Coun- 
cil of Baltimore. He took an active part in the work of 
the Fathers and was greatly pleased to see again the 
scenes of his youth and the field of his early labors. But 
his joy was not to last. The cholera, which at that time 
was ravaging Maryland, marked him out for a victim, 
and he died at Frederick on July 22, 1852. He requested 
that his remains be laid in the cemetery of the Baltimore 




Rt. Rev. Johx J, Chaxche, 
First Bishop of Natchez. 



SULPICIAN MISSIONARY BISHOPS 285 

cathedral, where he had been baptized, ordained and con- 
secrated. 

IV. — Right Reverend Guy Ignatius Chabrat, 
Coadjutor of Bardstown 

!N'ext to Bishop David, perhaps no priest attached to 
the diocese of Bardstown was more closely connected with 
Bishop Flaget than his second coadjutor, Guy Ignatius 
Chabrat, Bishop of Bolina. He was one of three young 
clerics enlisted by him during his stay in Europe previ- 
ous to his consecration. M. Chabrat was at that time 
in sub-deacon's orders. He was a native of Chambre 
and a student at the Seminary of St-Flour, of whi«h M. 
Levadoux was superior. He came to Baltimore early in 
1811 and was there admitted into the Society of St. Sul- 
pice on March 18 of that year. With Bishop Flaget he 
started for the West and was a member of the party which 
travelled, on the Ohio, from Pittsburg to Louisville, in the 
famous flat boat on which M. David is said to have be- 
gun the Bardstown seminary of St. Thomas. On his ar- 
rival in Kentucky, young Chabrat completed his theo- 
logical studies and his priestly training under Father 
David at St. Thomas' Seminary in Marion County, where 
it is probable that deacon's orders were conferred on him. 

As the chapel at St. Thomas' was too small to accom- 
modate a congregation of any size. Father Wilson, the 
Dominican superior of St. Rose's Monastery, invited 
Bishop Flaget to accept the hospitality of his church for 
the ordination. Accordingly M. Chabrat was here or- 
dained priest on December 25, 1811,^ being the first priest 
ordained in the State of Kentucky. He was a welcome 
addition to the three or four priests already in the State, 
and was appointed without delay to the parish of St. 

1 Rev. William J. Hewlett, "St. Thomas' Seminary," p. 57. 



286 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

MichaeFs in I^elson County. In those days, however, the 
pastor of a Kentucky parish did not confine his activity to 
the congregation which gave him his title, and, like the 
other Kentucky missionaries, Father Chabrat took care 
of the Catholics residing for many miles distant from 
his parish. Gradually, also, he organized stations, built 
new churches and prepared new parishes. 

Such was the tenor of his life for the first thirteen 
years of his priesthood. In 1824, however, while not 
relinquishing this exhausting missionary work, he as- 
sumed the charge, placed on him by Bishop Flaget, of 
the newly established Sisterhood of Loretto, whose or- 
ganization and work he directed for many years and which 
became a household word in the early Catholic history of 
Kentucky. His wisdom and prudence, both on the mis- 
sion and in the direction of Loretto, earned for him the 
well deserved confidence of Bishop Flaget, who in 1829, 
after well nigh twenty years of the episcopate, feeling that 
his strength was failing him and seeing that Bishop 
David's physique forbade an active outdoor life, looked 
around for a man to whom he might with confidence en- 
trust the administration of his vast diocese. He chose 
without hesitation the first priest whom he had ordained 
at St. Eose's. Rome approved of the old prelate's choice 
and in 1834 Father Chabrat was consecrated Bishop of 
Bolina and Coadjutor of Bardstown. 

From the time of his consecration. Bishop Chabrat 
relieved Bishop Flaget of many duties requiring travel 
or absence from his cathedral. He was seen visiting and 
conferring from one end of the diocese to the other. He 
also attended the Council of Baltimore called by Arch- 
bishop Eccleston in 1837. In the absence of the Bishop of 
Bardstown, it was he who proposed the creation of the 
see of !N"ashville, which proposal was accepted by the 
Fathers of the Council. In 1846 he appeared for the last 



SULPICIAN MISSIONARY BISHOPS 287 

time at the Sixth Council of Baltimore, and even then 
was suffering from a disease which threatened to deprive 
him of his eye-sight. Shortly afterwards he left for 
France, to consult the foremost oculist of that country, 
without, however, being relieved. He resigned his bishop- 
ric in 1847, retired to his father's residence and shortly 
after became completely blind. He died in Mauriac, 
France, in 1868. 

V. — Eight Reverend Augustine Yeeot, 
Bishop of St. Augustine 

The last of the bishops whom St. Sulpice gave to the 
American church was the Right Reverend Augustine 
Verot, of whose efficiency and work as a scientist and pro- 
fessor at St. Mary's College, Baltimore, we have repeat- 
edly spoken. M. Yerot was bom in Le Puy, France, in 
May, 1804. He completed his collegiate studies in his na- 
tive town and thereupon entered St. Sulpice, Paris, in 
1820, where he was raised to the priesthood in 1828, 
shortly afterwards becoming a Sulpician. With the his- 
torian Fredet, he came to the United States in 1830, at 
the suggestion of M. Carriere. We have repeatedly spoken 
of his success as a professor of science at St. Mary's Col- 
lege, Baltimore, his renown undoubtedly contributing 
much to the prosperity of the college, for, aside from 
the enthusiasm which he inspired as a teacher, he was a 
popular member of the faculty. He was always ready to 
join the students' swimming excursions, and an island 
in the Patapsco River, one mile from Woodstock, still 
bears the name of Verot's Island. On these occasions, he 
would rough it with the liveliest of the students. 

On the suppression of St. Mary's College in 1852, he 
was named pastor of Ellicott Mills. However, he kept 
up his connection with the Sulpician students at St. 



288 THE SUI.PICIANS IN THE UliriTED STATES 

Charles', and at times invited them to EUicott Mills, at 
which times he became a boy again. We learn that on 
one of these visits, M. Verot detained the seminarians a 
day longer than had been agreed upon, which brought 
upon him a reprimand from M. Lhomme, then superior 
of the seminary. 

But M. Verot was essentially a serious man. At El- 
licott Mills he took great interest in the fortunes of the 
colored people, making no secret of his sympathy with 
them and ever ready to do them a service. This atti- 
tude was not altered when he was raised to the episcopal 
dignity and led to his writing a pastoral letter on slavery, 
one of the most remarkable of his writings. 

In 1855 Father Villeneuve, one of the Montreal Sul- 
picians, came to Baltimore in the interest of Archbishop 
Hughes of 'New York, who was reorganizing his semi- 
nary. The Montreal Sulpicians had promised to supply 
it with a number of professors, and the archbishop was 
especially anxious to obtain the services of M. Verot as 
its president. Father Villeneuve's mission was to obtain 
Father Verot's consent to this arrangement. In this, 
however, he did not succeed, so the entire project failed.^ 

Father Verot was not to remain long at Ellicott Mills, 
for in 1858 he was appointed Vicar Apostolic of East 
Florida and Bishop of Danaba. Florida was an old 
Spanish colony, and naturally suggests a large Catholic 
population with a numerous clergy, but the frequent 
changes of government, ecclesiastical and secular, had 
greatly retarded the growth of the beautiful peninsula. 
The new vicar apostolic found a limited flock with only 
four priests. He set to work without delay, his apostolic 
tours covering his entire diocese. He started new 
churches, founded schools, called both Sisters of Charity 

1 See diary of M. Lhomme in the archives of St. Mary's Seminary, Bal- 
timore. 



SULPICIAN MISSIONABY BISHOPS 289 

and Christian Brothers to his aid and lost no opportunity 
to instruct his people bj means of pastorals which at- 
tracted much attention. Having roused the half -dormant 
spirit of his flock, he followed the example of many Amer- 
ican bishops of the period and in 1858 went to Europe. 
Here, besides material aid, he sought for laborers to help 
him in the cultivation of the Lord^s vineyard, and his 
quest was not in vain. He brought back with him six 
priests and four Christian Brothers. 

Two years later, at the beginning of the Civil War, he 
was transferred from Florida to be the third Bishop of 
Savannah, which, however, included a part of his former 
diocese. Georgia had never been a specially flourishing 
tract in the domain of the Catholic Church, but the un- 
fortunate Civil War made the labors of the bishop un- 
usually difficult. It is therefore the more surprising that 
in the diocese of Savannah, amid most untoward circum- 
stances, churches and schools and missions sprang up 
as they did. During the war he not only worked with 
zeal and success for his own flock, but devoted his efforts 
to relieving the hard lot of the Federal prisoners in An- 
dersonville. At the conclusion of the war he again turned 
his attention to the colored race and did all in his power 
to promote negro education. 

In 1870 Bishop Verot was translated to the newly cre- 
ated see of St. Augustine, where he worked with new 
energy for the welfare of his people. He looked after 
not only their spiritual, but also their material good, and 
took a vigorous part in making Florida the winter health- 
resort which it has become. Meanwhile, the bishop passed 
from parish to parish and church to church, encouraging 
and aiding their interests, and giving special attention to 
the cause of education. He thus laid the foundation of 
a prosperity which lasted long after his death, which took 



290 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

place, after a life of laborious zeal, at St. Augustine^ 
June 10, 1876. 

He was not only an energetic administrator, but he 
was still more a scholar of no mean attainments. In 
St. Mary's College he gained the respect of the students 
and of his fellow scientists for his learning in physics 
and chemistry, and he left a deep impression as a phi- 
losopher and a theologian. At the various Councils of 
Baltimore, and even at Rome, during the Vatican Coun- 
cil, his views were listened to with respect. In the United 
States, through his pastorals and his periodical articles, he 
exerted no little influence in questions of theology, so- 
ciology and science. 

Bishop Verot thus ends the old line of Sulpician bishops 
in the United States. Our record shows that the mem- 
bers of the Society did their best to escape the episcopal 
honors which the Company looked upon as undesirable, 
but which they likewise regarded as burdens which 
duty and obedience to the Holy Father compelled them 
to accept. Many of them, by resigning, sought to throw 
off the burden after they had successfully carried it for 
a number of years. One and all proved that they were 
animated with the spirit of the Company. 

On the other hand, a just estimate of their achieve- 
ments and their merits compels us to declare that the 
Sulpician bishops were no less great as administrators 
than as teachers. It is difficult to understand how these 
men, after becoming accustomed in the classroom to the 
life of scholars, should return to the world and display 
such unusually great qualities as missionaries and gov- 
ernors, as practical men prepared to meet with equal suc- 
cess the statesman and the man of the world, the Catholic 
and the non-Catholic. They gained the admiration of 
their flocks and the assistance of men of other creeds, who 




Et. Eev. Augustine Verot, 
First Bishop of St. Augustine. 



SULPICIAN MISSIONARY BISHOPS 291 

saw the great good they were doing for their country 
as well as for their Church. Though for the most part 
foreign by birth, they did not yield to the native Ameri- 
can in true and enthusiastic patriotism, and when duty 
or sickness called them away from our shores they never 
forgot the years which they had spent in the great trans- 
Atlantic republic and the principles with which it had 
inspired them. 

If we ask why, after successfully guiding the early days 
of the Church in our great country, they suddenly dis- 
appear from the ecclesiastical roll of honor, the answer 
is easily found. They were true and sincere sons of St. 
Sulpice; they believed in its principles, according to 
which their mission was not to be governors of the Church, 
but educators of such governors. For a time they had 
consented to take upon themselves the burden of the 
episcopacy, because the supreme authorities of the Church 
had placed above the rules of the Company the necessi- 
ties of the Church, necessities which were removed 
through the exertions of the Company. This last fact 
should not hinder us from recognizing the great services 
which the Sulpician bishops rendered to Catholicism, and 
we may say, to the prosperity of the Republic. The names 
of Flaget and Dubourg, of Marechal and Eccleston, will 
ever be remembered by American Catholics as the syno- 
nyms of prudence, zeal, energy, charity and self-sacrifice. 



Chaptee XIII 
The Administrations of MM. Lhomme and Dubeetjl 

With the departure of M. Deluol for Erance in 1849 
begins a new period for the Society of St. Sulpice in the 
United States. The time was passed when necessity gov- 
erned its policy and action, the days of transition and 
makeshifts were over, and the rules of the Society, the 
norms prescribed by MM. Olier and Emery, became the 
law in America as in Europe. The period was drawing to 
an end when the Sulpicians, in order to provide for the 
daily bread of their seminarians, felt obliged to maintain 
a college for all Catholics and non-Catholics willing to 
pay their yearly stipend, irrespective of the career they 
intended to follow, ^o longer did the Sulpician direc- 
tors provide laws and work for the Sisters of Charity, no 
more did they act as the spiritual guides and confessors 
of the laity.^ The American Society of St. Sulpice now 
faced what was in many ways a revolution, and it becomes 
necessary to examine what were the means and resources 
wherewith the Society undertook its new task and entered 
on the problems of the future. 

When we bear in mind that the Society of St. Sulpice 
had charge of St. Mary^s Seminary and St. Mary's Col- 
lege, we are amazed that in 1849 there should have been 
available as directors and professors for these two institu- 
tions only ten men. !N"ow that M. Deluol had left for 
France, there remained of the faculty of the Baltimore 

1 Father Elder, by special privilege, continued to hear confessions un- 
til his death in 1871. 

292 



ADMINISTRATIONS OF MM. LHOMME AND DUBREUL 293 

seminary only MM. Lhomme, Verot and Fredet. M. Ray- 
mond was president of St. Mary's College, in which task 
he was aided by MM. Knight, Elder, Randanne, Joubert 
and Jenkins. MM. Verot, Fredet and Lhomme taught 
in both institutions. The first three gentlemen, of course, 
would still be needed for the seminary, but in case of the 
discontinuance of St. Mary's College not all of its profes- 
sors were necessary for the new St. Charles' College, 
which, for the first year or two, required only Father 
Jenkins or Father Raymond as president of the institution. 
This gives us an idea of the work to be done by the Sul- 
picians after the suppression of St. Mary's College and of 
the men available for the purpose. 

When the departure of M. Deluol for France was an- 
nounced at a meeting of the Sulpicians, it was given out 
that M. Lhomme was placed in charge of the Society of 
St. Sulpice, though his appointment as superior was made 
only in the following year. To him, therefore, was allotted 
the task of reorganizing the various institutions belonging 
to the Society in and near Baltimore. 

M. Francis Lhomme was born at Brioude in the diocese 
of Le Puy on l^ovember 13, 1794. He joined the Com- 
pany of St. Sulpice in France and in 1827 was sent to 
America, where he was immediately placed in charge of 
the Greek department at the college and given some the- 
ology classes at the seminary. Later he also taught Sa- 
cred Scripture, in which branch he took a lively interest. 
He was a kind, pious man, not lacking in force, and under 
him the seminary was a model of order. In the year 1849, 
when his administration began, the seminary numbered 
some twenty-two students, while in 1860 the attendance 
had increased to more than forty. Hitherto the Archdio- 
cese of Baltimore had contributed the majority of the stu- 
dents in the seminary, but soon after M. Lhomme's rule 
began, the majority of the seminarians consisted of out- 



294 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

siders, "New England sending a large proportion. Under 
his regime bishops for every part of the United States were 
recruited from among the alumni of St. Mary's, among 
them Archbishop Leray of l^ew Orleans, Bishops Edgar P. 
Wadhams, the first bishop of Ogdensburg, Eichard Phe- 
lan of Pittsburg, John Eoley of Detroit and Patrick 
O'Eeilly of Springfield. 

The admirable discipline which prevailed in the semi- 
nary in M. Lhomme's time was due, no doubt, primarily, 
to the spirit of order and to the example of the superior, 
but not a little to his popularity. Like MM. Tessier and 
Deluol, he saw to it that the students were allowed need- 
ful recreation and his diary contains several records of the 
excursions made by the theologians on the Fourth of July 
and other holidays, when they were the guests of Mr. 
Cromwell, who had been a student of St. Mary's College. 
While he thus provided for their necessary recreation he 
did not neglect their intellectual needs. 

The usual peace and harmony of the seminary were 
much disturbed during this administration by the so-called 
Knownothing movement. The Knownothings were an 
American nativist society, aiming at the expulsion of for- 
eigners, especially Catholics, from the United States. The 
spirit had been manifest for some time previous, but in 
1854 the movement became active in Baltimore, its first 
demonstrations being directed against the Visitation Con- 
vent in Park Street. M. Lhomme tells us in his diary 
that on January 16, 1854, two hundred men marched down 
Pennsylvania Avenue on their way to Monimient Square. 
In front of the Visitation Convent on Park Street they 
became riotous and fired some shots. This alarmed the 
Catholics of the district, who organized the Young Cath- 
olic Friends' Society, with headquarters near St. Alphon- 
sus' Church, whence they might extend assistance to the 
Visitation Convent or other places in danger. The dem- 




Very Eev. Francis Lhomme, 
Fourth Superior of St. Mai-y 's Seminary. 



ADMLNISTEATIONS OF MM. LHOMME AND DUBEEUL 295 

onstration on this occasion proved a flash in the pan, but 
the alarm created lingered, and as a result of the Know- 
nothings' threats of violence the seminarians were de- 
prived of their annual excursion on the 4th of July of that 
year. Even four years later the turbulence of the nativist 
fanatics had not subsided, for on January 7, 1858, while 
the students were taking their usual walk, they were as- 
saulted by a band of rowdies, who threw stones and even 
fired shots at them. Father Flammant was struck by a 
stone and Father Ferte sustained serious injury to his nose. 
Meanwhile the suppression of St. Mary's College, which 
had been decreed by M. de Courson, was in active progress, 
and when these Knownothing demonstrations disquieted 
the Sulpicians, they had barely recovered from the domes- 
tic disturbances resulting from this suppression. This ques- 
tion had been the chief reason for the recall of M. Deluol 
to France in 1849, but no immediate steps were taken by 
M. Lhomme after his accession to power. Our readers will 
remember that one of the difficulties to be overcome in this 
matter was the establishment of another Catholic col- 
legiate institution under the direction of the Fathers of the 
Society of Jesus. For some reason the negotiations to 
this end had failed, but in 1851 the question was taken 
up again by M. Lhomme, who on October 13 conferred on 
the subject with Archbishop Kenrick, the successor of 
Archbishop Eccleston, who had died on April 22nd of that 
year. M. Lhomme does not tell us of the results of this 
conference, but since on the same day he discussed with 
the Jesuit, Father Brocard, the question of surrendering 
his students to a Jesuit college to be founded in Baltimore, 
we may conclude that the project had the approval of the 
archbishop. In the following March, M. Lhomme wrote a 
long letter on the same subject to M. de Courson. The 
answer, which arrived on the 19th of April, authorized the 



296 THE SUIiPICIANS IIT THE UNITED STATES 

Baltimore superior to treat with the Jesuits regarding the 
surrender of the college. 

Of course, Father Clarke, the Jesuit superior, had to 
obtain the consent of the General of the Society of Jesus 
to this step on the part of his Society, and on June 12, the 
commencement day of St. Mary's College, Father Clarke 
notified Father Lhomme that he had received the neces- 
sary authorization from Father Roothan, his superior gen- 
eral. Father Jenkins, at that time President of St. Mary's 
College, announced in the Baltimore "American" of July 
28, the news that St. Mary's College had ceased to exist.^ 
The surrender of this flourishing institution to the spirit 
of the Company was unquestionably a great sacrifice, espe- 
cially as it took place at a time when its previous successes 
promised still further prosperity. But in comparison 
with the principle and spirit of the Society, success counted 
for nothing in the eyes of its loyal sons, now that no rea- 
son of honor or honesty could demand further delay. 

The relinquishing of St. Mary's College naturally 
brought about the dispersion of its faculty. As early as 
1850 the Sulpician, Father Knight, went to St. Peter's 
Church, Baltimore, where Father McColgan gave him a 
hospitable reception. In the same year. Father Baymond, 
who was at the head of St. Charles' College, was recalled 
to France. Messrs. Smith and Kelly, veteran members 
of St. Mary's faculty, died, the former on February 25, 
1851, after twenty-seven years' service as teacher of pen- 
manship, and the latter, after having been professor of mu- 

1 Three days afterwards, the following announcement appeared in the 
"Catholic Mirror" of Baltimore : "The President and Faculty of St. 
Mary's College respectfully inform the public that the collegiate and 
academic departments of this Institution will be permanently closed for 
the future. The members of the society will hereafter, in conformity 
with the spirit and object of their vocation, devote themselves ex- 
clusively to the education of candidates for the sacred ministry. The 
facilities for a thorough education are so greatly multiplied at this time 
that, it is believed, tiie step which has been taken will in no way em- 
barrass the parents who have so kindly confided to the Institution the 
care of their children. 

"For the liberal encouragement extended to St. Mary's College to the 
day of its dissolution, the President and Faculty take this occasion to 
tender their most grateful acknowledgments." 



ADMINISTRATIONS OF IMM. LHOMME AND DUBEEUL 297 

sic for twenty-nine years, on August 26, 1852. The Kev. 
Father Yoirdye, who had taught at the college, left for 
Montreal on September 6 of the same year. But the 
most distinguished member of the faculty who was lost 
to the Society of St. Sulpice by the abandonment of St 
Mary's College was M. Yerot. During the administration 
of M. Lhomme, the Society of St. Sulpice had also lost by 
death the Kev. Peter Fredet. On the other hand, seven 
new members had arrived from France, namely, MM. 
Joseph P. Dubreul, Stanislas Ferte, Alphonse Flammant, 
Francis Dissez, John Baptist Menu, R. Blanc and H. M. 
Chapuis. Therefore at the time of M. Lhomme's death 
there were eleven Sulpicians in the United States. 

The relief of the seminarians from the duty of teach- 
ing in the lower classes of the college was one of the re- 
forms which the gentlemen of St. Sulpice, both in France 
and in America, had especially sought to effect by aban- 
doning St. Mary's College. In the main, this object was 
achieved, though occasionally we meet teachers in St. 
Charles' who were at the same time students of theology at 
the seminary. Such was Mr. E. Caton, who, with Father 
Jenkins, was one of the first teachers in the new college. 
Such were also T. M. A. Burke, later Bishop of Albany, 
Placide Chapelle, later Archbishop of New Orleans, Rev. 
J. Haug, Rev. F. X. McKenny, Rev. D. E. Maher, Rev. 
G. J. Kraft of Charleston, Rev. H. C. Pouget, now in the 
Canal Zone at Panama, and Rev. D. S. Kelly, of the Dio- 
cese of Trenton. It may, therefore, be said that the sup- 
pression of St. Mary's College practically accomplished 
the liberation of the seminarians from the duty of teach- 
ing. 

During M. Lhomme's rule the faculty of St. Mary's was 
reinforced by M. Alphonse Flammant, a man who com- 
bined holiness with learning, and, in addition to profound 
scholarship, had the gift of being an interesting and clear 



298 THE SULPICIAirS IN THE UNITED STATES 

teacher. What enhanced his popularity was the fact that 
he performed his duties zealously and successfully, though 
throughout his career at the seminary (1856-62), he was a 
sufferer from lung disease. Archhishop Keane speaks 
of him with warm admiration, and relates that it was M. 
Flammant who drew his attention to the love men owe to 
their country as a virtue and as a duty to God. Although 
M. Flammant's career was cut short by a premature death, 
another new-comer graced the faculty of St. Mary's for 
many years. M. Dissez arrived in Baltimore in 1857; 
taught philosophy at the seminary till 1862; moral the- 
ology till 1896, and pastoral theology until a few months 
before his death in 1908. He celebrated his golden jubi- 
lee, beloved and honored by his pupils, respected by four 
successive Archbishops of Baltimore and relied on as the 
wise and trusted counsellor of four superiors of his Com- 
pany. He was a gentle. God-fearing man, who, because 
of his wisdom and charity, enjoyed the confidence of sev- 
eral generations of priests in the United States. 

The abolition of St. Mary's College naturally affected 
the curriculum of the seminary. During M. Lhomme's 
administration, the course of studies assumed the following 
form. The theologians had an hour's lesson in moral the- 
ology every day except Sunday and Thursday, and a lec- 
ture on dogma on the same days at 4 o'clock p. m. After 
1859, at the suggestion of the Visitors, MM. Faillon and 
Guitter, a lecture on Holy Scripture was given on Sundays 
at 11 a. m., and another on Thursdays at 9 a. m. One hour 
was assigned to liturgy on Wednesdays at 11.15, and three 
half hours to chant on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays at 
2 p. m. Pastoral theology was the subject taught at 11.15 
on Tuesdays and Fridays. During the vacations the semi- 
narians were required to write a sermon on a designated 
subject, which they were to bring back in September. The 
students studying philosophy attended two lectures daily. 



ADMHTISTEATIONS OF MM. LHOMME AND DUBEEUL 299 

one from nine to ten and one from four to five. They prob- 
ably also studied Scripture and plain chant. In 1856 M. 
Lhonune completed the program of studies by introduc- 
ing a course of church history, which was unquestionably 
very timely. He also encouraged scholarship among the 
students by throwing open to them the part of the uni- 
versity library especially suited for student work, and this 
proved to be of great advantage to the young clerics. 

The scientific needs of the seminary were thus wisely 
and happily provided for by M. Lhomane, who at the same 
time carefully looked out for everything calculated to 
inspire the piety and devotion of the young men. It was 
customary in France to erect a statue of the Blessed Vir- 
gin in the garden or courtyard of the seminaries gov- 
erned by the Sulpicians, and in 1855 such a statue was set 
up in the garden of the Baltimore seminary, and blessed 
by Archbishop Kenrick, together with the remodelled 
buildings. 

M. Raymond, who had left Baltimore for France in the 
fall of 1850, returned on August 22, 1854, accompanied 
by seven young men, three of whom were intended for the 
Archdiocese of ISTew Orleans and four for "M. Raymond's 
proposed Congregation," as M. Lhomme informs us. It 
being vacation, the seminarians were entertained at the 
country house of St. Charles' College. On September 17 
M. Lhomme wrote to M. de Courson with regard to the 
disposal of his guests, at the same time inviting M. Ray- 
mond to preach the retreat at St. Mary's. Meantime, M. 
Raymond and his colony were bringing embarrassment 
upon good-natured M. Lhomme, who finally called his at- 
tention to the fact. As a consequence M. Raymond left 
for "New Orleans, where he devoted himself especially to 
missionary work among the negroes. Under Archbishop 
Perche he was superior of the theological seminary and 
vicar general. He died at Opelousas in 1889. 



300 THE SULPICIAW^S IN THE UNITED STATES 

The reorganization of the Maryland Sulpician colony 
along the lines laid down by M. Olier was watched with 
great interest by their French brethren, and especially M. 
de Courson. The Visitor who had represented the superior 
general in 1849 was M. Faillon, who had been accompanied 
by M. Guitter. They had inaugurated the action which 
led to M. Deluol's recall and the suppression of St. Mary's 
College, and returned to France in 1850 by way of I^ew 
York. M. Lhomme escorted the visitors to pay their re- 
spects to Archbishop Hughes, who spoke to them of a 
plan to establish a central seminary, where a few students 
would make higher studies, each bishop keeping his own 
seminary for ordinary students. The times proved un- 
favorable to this pi^oject, which was not then further pur- 
sued.^ 

Four years later, on ^November 8th, we find M. Faillon 
again at Baltimore, this time accompanied by M. Barbarin. 
The buildings of St. Mary's College were useless as they 
then stood, and it was therefore proposed to modify them 
for the use of the seminarians. M. Faillon, who seems to 
have been somewhat of an architect, undertook to prepare 
the plans for these changes and soon after his arrival sub- 
mitted them to the professors of the seminary. They were 
accepted and M. Lhomme records in his diary that the con- 
tractor, a Mr. Forbes, began the changes on December 7, 
1854. On January 11, of the next year, the trustees of St. 
Charles' College, which was beginning to be a prosperous 
institution, assembled to meet the Visitor. He suggested 
to them a set of rules for the new college, which were 
accepted without modification. Meantime, the alteration 
of the old college buildings for seminary purposes, the cost 
of which was $25,000, proceeded without interruption, and 
in July, 1855, they were ready for occupancy. M. Faillon, 
who had gone to Montreal early in the year, came back 

* See diary of M. Lhomme in the archives of St. Mary's Seminary. 



ADMINISTEATIOIs'S OF MM. LHOMME AND DUBREUL 301 

for the dedication of the new seminary by Archbishop Ken- 
rick on July 24. On this occasion, M. Faillon was accom- 
panied by M. Lenoir. 

About this time, M. Lhomme seems to have been con- 
cerned with the question of the tenure of the seminary 
property which had hitherto been held in the name of the 
superiors of the Seminary, and he consulted on this subject 
Chief Justice Taney and Mr. Scott, as well as the superior 
general in Paris. The matter was brought to the attention 
of the Maryland Legislature of 1860, which thereupon, un- 
der date of February 17, 1860, passed the following law: 

''Section 1, Be it enacted by the General Assembly of 
Maryland, that the Associated professors of the Seminary 
of learning, heretofore established by the act of the General 
Assembly of Maryland, passed November session 1804, 
chapter 71, and incorporated by the act of December ses- 
sion 1838, chapter 137, be and they are hereby authorized 
to change the name of the said corporation from that of the 
Associated Professors of Saint Mary's College in the city 
of Baltimore, to that of the Associated Professors of Saint 
Mary's Seminary in Baltimore City. 

''Section 2. And be it enacted, that the said corporation 
by its new name shall hold, possess and enjoy and exercise 
all the rights, powers, authority and privileges heretofore 
granted and confirmed by and under the said acts of 1804, 
chapter 71, and 1838, chapter 137. 

"Section 3. And be it enacted, that the said corporation 
by its new name hereby given shall have power and author- 
ity to make and use a common seal, and the same to break, 
alter and renew at pleasure, to pass by-laws and make rules 
and regulations for the perpetuation of the governing body, 
and the same to alter and change at pleasure, to purchase, 
receive, take and hold by deed, gift, devise or otherwise, 
any estate and property whatsoever, real and personal, and 



302 THE SULPICIANS IN" THE UNITED STATES 

the same or any part thereof, to sell, transfer, lease or con- 
vey ; to sue and to be sued, and in the new name of the said 
corporation, to collect any debts due or owing to the cor- 
poration by its former name ; provided, however, that the 
annual income of the said corporation from any estate or 
property heretofore or hereafter to be acquired by way 
of rents or interest, shall not exceed the annual sum of 
$18,000. 

"Section k- And be it enacted, that the General As- 
sembly of Maryland may at any time hereafter amend, 
alter or repeal this Act." 

Another plan suggested by the installation of the semi- 
nary in the college building was the separation of the stu- 
dents of philosophy from those of theology. This was 
tried as an experiment in September, 1857, but given up 
as unpractical. It was also during the administration of 
M. Lhomme that the retreat of the diocesan clergy took 
place for the first time in the seminary. 

In September, 1860, according to a letter sent by M. 
Lhomme to the Paris superior, he had been obliged, prob- 
ably owing to ill-health, to turn over the duties of su- 
perior to M. Dubreul, and the letter requests that M. Du- 
breul be appointed to the office, the duties of which, he was 
already performing. M. Lhomme's strength sank rapidly 
and on September 27 the superior, though but sixty-six 
years of age, was on the point of death. M. Dubreul gave 
him the last consolations of the Church. The students 
of the seminary had been admitted to the death-cham- 
ber, where he gave them his last blessing, and the beloved 
superior peacefully expired. The seminarians watched and 
prayed beside the body, among the watchers being the 
present Archbishop of Baltimore. Archbishop Kenrick 
delivered the funeral eulogy. 

In accordance with M. Lhomme's last request, M. Du- 



ADMINISTRATIONS OF MM. LHOMME AND DUBEEUL 303 

breul was named his successor on December 18, 1860. He 
was forty-four years old at the time of his appointment, 
having been born at St-Etienne in the Diocese of Lyons on 
Xovember 8, 1814. He was educated at first in the lower 
seminary of Monistrol, studied philosophy at Aix, and 
theology at the Seminary of St. Irenseus at Lyons and at 
Paris. After completing his theological studies and no- 
vitiate, he was entrusted with the professorship of dogma in 
the seminary of Orleans from 1839 to 1850, in which year 
he was sent to Baltimore, on his arrival being made vice- 
president of St. Mary's College and professor of philoso- 
phy. From the start, he took his place as one of the most 
trusted counsellors of M. Lhomme. He was not only an 
excellent scholar but a skilful and active man of affairs. 
Of an authoritative presence, with bold and intelligent fea- 
tures, his appearance did justice to his qualities of heart 
and mind. He stood in need of all his vigor and ability, 
for he was called upon to guide the American Society of St. 
Sulpice through a period of storm and stress. 

About a fortnight after M. Lhomme's death, and six 
weeks before the succession of M. Dubreul, Abraham Lin- 
coln was elected President of the United States. He had 
hardly been chosen chief magistrate before the great Amer- 
ican Civil War began to cast its dark shadows over the 
land. The Company of St. Sulpice had, from the start, 
been distinguished for its loyal and enthusiastic devotion 
to the American Republic. Like the Catholic Church in 
the United States, it had never been identified with the 
spirit of sectionalism or party. St. Mary's Seminary had 
its home in Maryland, but drew the larger part of its stu- 
dents from the Northern States; its professors, while en- 
thusiastically patriotic, abstained scrupulously from party 
politics. Yet the excitement and disturbances of the day 
could not fail to affect the peaceful abode of the Sulpician 
professors and their institution. It is a violent transition 



304 THE SULPICIAWS UST THE TJI^ITED STATES 

in the diary of M. Dubreul from the account of a retreat 
given by Father Piot to the servants of the seminary to the 
record, a few pages further on, under date of April 19, of 
almost the first symptoms marking the beginning of the 
Civil War. On that date, M. Dubreul's entry reads : "The 
mob attacked the Massachusetts Eegiment in Pratt Street. 
Bridges and railroads destroyed, also telegraph inter- 
rupted." Two days later the record is : "Great alarm in 
the city. All under arms; public services suspended." 
Meantime, the students and teachers from the two Sulpi- 
cian institutions quietly pursued their studies, while the 
political sky became more and more clouded, until the 
storm burst in the immediate neighborhood of these homes 
of peace and scholarship. On June 29, M. Dubreul pithily 
sets down: "Invasion of Maryland by Confederates; the 
Seminarians are hastily sent home. The day after, mar- 
tial law prevails. 'No pass is given. St. Charles' students 
were also summarily dismissed." 

It is evident that even so peaceful a community as the 
Sulpicians and their proteges did not escape the storms 
and alarms of the Civil War. Still, when we consider the 
violence and duration of this civil tempest, it is remarkable 
how quickly its force was spent, as far as concerned St. 
Mary's and St. Charles'. In September, 1861, Father Du- 
breul remarks that the year's session began "with a greater 
number of seminarians than we expected in the time of 
war." The annals of the college inform us that in 1861 
eight students entered, three from !N"ew York, two from 
Hartford, one from Florida, one without diocesan affilia- 
tion. It is remarkable that, with Civil War raging in the 
country, while the Baltimore seminary did not have one 
recruit from the home diocese, it had several from the 
"New England, the Middle States and Florida. It is a sig- 
nificant fact that all of these were of foreign birth. In 
1863 thirty-two entered the seminary, ten of whom were 



ADMINISTRATIONS OF MM. LHOMME AND DUBEEUL 305 

bom in the United States, and in 1865 twenty-seven en- 
tered, four of them native-bom. In 1866 there were fifteen 
new students, while in 1867 the number suddenly jumps 
to forty-eight. 'No doubt the Civil War retarded to a cer- 
tain extent the growth of the seminary, but its baneful 
effects passed away in a very short time. 

If we consult the list of students entered at St. Charles^ 
we meet with a similar story. In 1860, the year before 
the outbreak of the Civil War, the entering class num- 
bered forty-six; in 1861, twenty-six; in 1862, forty-three; 
in 1863, forty-nine; in 1864, fifty, and in 1865, seventy. 
At St. Charles', too, the students came, as before the war, 
not only from the Baltimore diocese, but also in great 
numbers from the JSTew England and Middle States. It 
is certainly an eloquent testimony to the freedom from 
sectional spirit, to find young men from the Eastern, Mid- 
dle and Southern States assembling peacefully in these 
hallowed temples of learning, undisturbed by the alarms 
and dangers of war. It is gratifying also, peace having 
once more settled upon the country, to see the seminary 
and college grow and prosper as never before. 

The Sulpicians, however, were not to escape altogether 
the consequences of the war, for in December, 1863, two 
of their members, MM. Dissez and Lequerre, were drafted 
into the army. M. Dubreul does not tell us how they es- 
caped military service, but the probability is that they 
were not yet naturalized. In July, 1864, General Wal- 
lace's retreat from Monocacy caused a panic, which, how- 
ever, did not prevent some of the seminarians from mak- 
ing their way to St. Charles'. On the way, they met some 
of the scattered soldiers. Even after the close of the war, 
St. Charles' suffered from its effects. In !N"ovember, 1865, 
an epidemic of typhoid fever broke out, which became so 
violent that all the students had to be dismissed to their 
homes. M. Dubreul hastened to the college and found that 



306 THE SULPICIAI^S IN THE UNITED STATES 

the fever liad been brought into the institution by a stu- 
dent who had served in the army. The following springy 
on April 17, the community of St. Mary's was startled by 
the announcement of President Lincoln's assassination. 
The seminary, as well as the ecclesiastical authorities in 
Baltimore, were greatly distressed by this national misfor- 
tune. Eive days later, when the body of the President 
passed through Baltimore, on its way to its last resting 
place, the seminary students joined the clergy of the arch- 
diocese, led by the vicar general. Dr. Coskery, who escorted 
the remains through the streets of the city. 

If the excitement and troubles of the Civil War were a 
bitter trial to M. Dubreul and his confreres, the loss of 
Archbishop Kenrick, who was found dead in his bed on 
the morning of July 8, 1863, was no less sore a blow. The 
archbishop had been a wise and faithful friend of the So- 
ciety of St. Sulpice. His death at the critical time of the 
Civil War was felt by all the Catholics in the United 
States, but by none more than the Sulpician superior, who 
was just on the point of starting for H^ew York. Here he 
met Archbishop Hughes, who was on the eve of tranquilliz- 
ing the draft riots. That energetic prelate was then mak- 
ing changes in his diocesan seminary and had applied to 
M. Carriere, the Sulpician superior, in Paris, that his 
Company might take charge of the "New York institution 
for training the clergy. But M. Carriere did not accept 
the Archbishop's invitation and the seminary passed into 
the hands of a Belgian faculty. 

We now pass to the internal affairs of the seminary dur- 
ing M. Dubreul's administration. On taking the reins of 
government he had associated with him MM. Stanislas 
Perte, Alphonse Flammant, Frangois Dissez and Urban 
Lequerre. Of these gentlemen, M. Perte was promoted 
to the presidency of St. Charles' College after the death 
of Father Jenkins in 1869, which position he filled with 




Very Eev. Joseph Paul Dubreul. 



ADMINISTEATIONS OF MM. LHOMME AND DUBEEUL' 307 

great ability and success. M. Lequerre, the treasurer of 
the seminary, after being excused from the military serv- 
ice for which he had been drafted, taught in the seminary 
till 1871. M. Guilbaud, who arrived from France in 
December, 1862, joined the faculty of St. Charles'. In 
1864 he was detailed to teach dogma in St. Mary's, but 
returned to St. Charles' in 1870. Of the professors who 
were at the seminary for a short period, we will mention 
only M. Eince, who came from France in 1867, and died 
suddenly two years afterwards, in consequence of a hem- 
orrhage. After M. Rince's death, M. Dujarie took his 
place as teacher of philosophy and also taught Sacred 
Scripture. He remained at St. Mary's only two years. 

The student body, which in 1861, at the beginning of 
M. Dubreul's administration, numbered only thirty-five, is 
reported at ninety-two in 1878, having tripled in eighteen 
years. As in the past, it included young men from all 
parts of the United States, but especially from l^ew Eng- 
land. In the early years of M. Dubreul's rule, the great 
majority were of foreign birth. However, as the children 
of the great wave of immigration which set in a little be- 
fore 1850 reached the student age, native Americans began 
to form the majority of the seminarians. St. Mary's con- 
tinued to furnish a fair proportion of the bishops from 
among the young Levites of this period, the most noted 
representative being the distinguished Archbishop of Balti- 
more, Cardinal Gibbons, who was ordained in July, 1861. 
He had attracted the attention of his fellow-students and 
teachers in the days of M. Lhomme; his merits were soon 
appreciated by Archbishops Spalding and Bayley, and 
at the early age of thirty-four we find him appointed Vicar 
Apostolic of l^orth Carolina. While holding this office he 
published the book, ^The Faith of Our Fathers," which has 
made his name a household-word among the Catholics of 
the United States and familiar to non-Catholics also. Two 



308 ;rHE sulpicians in the un-ited states 

years after the work appeared, its author was made Bishop 
of Richmond, and, in May, 1877, designated Coadjutor 
Archbishop of Baltimore, succeeding Archbishop Bayley 
on the death of that prelate Rve months afterwards. He 
was raised to the cardinalate in 1886. 

Another student of St. Mary's in the days of M. Du- 
breul who later attained prominence was Archbishop 
Keane, formerly of Dubuque, the first president of the 
Catholic University of America and an orator renowned 
for his eloquence. Archbishop Placide Louis Chapelle, a 
theologian of repute, after ruling the Archdiocese of Santa 
Fe, was transferred to 'New Orleans. After the Spanish- 
American war he was sent to the Philippines as papal dele- 
gate. Rev. Mark S. Gross devoted his life to the missions 
of North Carolina. In 1880 he was appointed Bishop and 
Yicar Apostolic of E'orth Carolina, but he declined the 
honor. Archbishop John Joseph Kain of St. Louis was 
ordained from St. Mary's in 1866, became Bishop of 
Wheeling in 1875, and governed the Archdiocese of St. 
Louis from 1895 to 1903. 

In 1866, at the request of Archbishop Spalding, M. 
Dubreul organized in the seminary a course of lectures 
on the questions of the day, which were delivered by the 
professors of the institution. In the same year two ser- 
mons began to be required of the students, the second to 
be delivered in the second half of the scholastic year. 

The present Bishop of Richmond, Right Reverend Denis 
J. O'Connell, was graduated in 1877, was rector of the 
American College, Rome, president of the Catholic Uni- 
versity, and then auxiliary Bishop of San Francisco. Bish- 
ops T. M. A. Burke, of Albany, and Jeremiah 0' Sullivan, 
of Mobile, belonged respectively to the classes of 1864 
and of 1868. Since 1823 St. Mary's Seminary had been 
authorized by the pope to confer the degree of Doctor of 
Sacred Theology, but previous to M. Dubreul's time it had 



ADMINISTRATIONS OF MM. LHOMME AND DUBEEUL 309 

rarely conferred this title. M. Dubreul, however, saw rea- 
son to depart from this policy, and on June 19, 1868, con- 
ferred the degree of Doctor of Divinity on the Rev. 
Placide Louis Chapelle. In October, 1871, Rev. M. 
J. Joerger was honored with the same title, which was 
also bestowed on Rev. C. Reilly of Detroit, on June 23, 
1875. In each of these cases the candidate was rigidly 
examined by the faculty of St. Mary^s and M. Dubreul 
carefully notes in his diary the result of the examination. 

Besides exhibiting strictness in bestowing the honors of 
his institution, M. Dubreul was also a forceful discipli- 
narian. This, however, did not lead him to neglect the 
pleasanter duties of his position. While dignified, he was, 
especially during his later days, the kind-hearted friend 
of all his professors and students. We cannot read without 
emotion the words with which he recommends his proteges 
to Divine Providence. Thus, under date of December 9, 
1868, on the eve of his departure for Paris, he writes: 
"May Jesus and Mary watch over my dear confreres and 
all the beloved community.'^ And again on August 25, 
1869 : "I was in our dear chapel, returning thanks to 
Our Lord and His Blessed Mother for my safe return. 
I begged Him to bless again all my efforts for the pro- 
motion of projects so dear to my heart." The same ring 
of fatherly friendship strikes us when he records how he 
and his seminarians had made an excursion to the Winans 
Villa at Crimea or the Cromwells' country house at Spring 
Garden. 

In 1868 the Sulpician community celebrated a domes- 
tic event which naturally gave great joy to the hearts of 
these faithful instructors. The preparatory Seminary of 
St. Charles had existed for well nigh twenty years with- 
out any of its graduates having joined the Company of 
St. Sulpice. In 1868, however, Mr. James A. McCallen, a 
student of the seminary who, a few years before, had com- 



310 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

pleted his course at St. diaries', was proposed by M. 
Dubreul for membership in the Sulpician Company. The 
other professors approved of the application and M. Du- 
breul, who visited Europe in that year, took the young ap- 
plicant with him to Issy. He was raised to the priest- 
hood in Paris two years later, and then returned to the 
United States, where he was long a much-esteemed mem- 
ber of the Society. 

It has been shown that in 1855, under the superiorship 
of M. Lhomme, the buildings of St. Mary's College had 
been altered to meet the new use to which they were to 
be put, that of a seminary. These changes, although re- 
garded at the time as suitable and convenient, soon became 
inadequate, owing to the growth of the seminary and the 
development of the seminary studies. 

The material and spiritual care of St. Mary's Seminary 
thus engrossed the attention and labors of its zealous su- 
perior. The projected new buildings were finished and 
promised much relief to the superior and the institution. 
But M. Dubreul was not fated to reap the fruit of his 
efforts. Though originally his health had been far from 
sturdy, his strength gradually improved and promised a 
long life. However, on April 18, 1878, while assisting in 
the celebration of Holy Week, the apparently vigorous man 
was smitten by pneumonia and a few days sufficed to con- 
sign him to the grave. The funeral ceremony brought a 
great throng of prelates, priests and other friends to the 
cathedral, where Archbishop Gibbons celebrated the re- 
quiem. All were full of the praises of the deceased su- 
perior, and felt that they were paying the last honors to 
a man of unusual merit. The newly appointed Bishop 
Keane of Richmond enumerated his admirable qualities 
in eloquent words, declaring that under his administration 
St. Mary's Seminary not only maintained the high stand- 
ing it had acquired under his predecessors, but witnessed 



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James Cardinal Gibbons, 
Archbishop of Baltimore. 



ADMINISTRATIONS OF MM. LHOMME AND DUBEEUL 311 

an increase of its prosperity and an enhancement of its 
reputation, despite the rise of rival institutions through- 
out the country. To-day, he added, in the opinion of the 
clergy, this institution remains the first and best for the 
training of candidates for the priesthood in the United 
States. 



Chapter XIY 
Administration of M. Magnien 

The administrations of MM. Lhomme and Dubreul 
mark the transition to a new period in the history of St. 
Mary's Seminary. The new, or rather the old, policy of 
the Company of St. Sulpice, to which had been sacrificed 
several flourishing institutions, and last of all St. Mary's 
College, required new arrangements and new accommoda- 
tions, both material and intellectual. The creation and 
ordering of these new means and methods were the work 
of MM. Lhomme and Dubreul, and the Society of St. Sul- 
pice was fortunate in having men of such prudence and 
energy to guide the Sulpician ship during this part of 
its voyage. The new policy, without being a contradiction 
of the old, was to make for progress and development, and 
MM. Lhomme and Dubreul both realized that the change 
must not be sudden and radical, but gradual and conserva- 
tive. 'New methods might be required, and new apparatus. 
Besides the return to the ideals of Olier and Emery, the 
progress of the country and of theological science might 
demand new instruments and new resources. While M, 
Lhomme and M. Dubreul were admirably preserving all 
that had proved so effective and were slowly and modestly 
preparing new means for satisfying the new and, we may 
add, the ever old, requirements of the Church, Provi- 
dence had chosen another man to undertake the new du- 
ties, to solve the fresh problems, and to supply the de- 
mands of the waning nineteenth century. 

This man was Alphonse Magnien, the sixth superior 

312 



admhtisteation of m. magnien 313 

of St. Mary's Seminary. He was a native of Bleymard, 
where lie was bom on June 9, 1837, being the son of 
an officer in the French gendarmerie. His father's trans- 
fer to another county seat, Saint-Chely-d'Apcher, gave 
the boy the advantage of an excellent provincial school, 
conducted by the Christian Brothers, where he soon 
became known for his talents. The cure of the place 
advised the parents to give the lad, who had already 
shown signs of a vocation, a classical education, and 
they sent him to the lower seminary at Chirac. While 
the youth pursued his studies here, the school was vis- 
ited by the Bishop of Orleans, the great Monseigneur 
Dupanloup, whose stirring address awoke, or rather con- 
firmed, young Magnien's resolve to devote himself to the 
service of God. From Chirac, therefore, he betook him- 
self in 1857 to the seminary at Orleans, and after a suc- 
cessful course of philosophical and theological studies, 
was raised to the priesthood in June, 1862. While at 
Orleans, his piety and ability and the influence which he 
exercised among his fellow-students naturally attracted 
him to the teaching profession, and he consulted his ven- 
erable director, M. Benech, with a view to associating 
himself with the gentlemen of St. Sulpice. "This was 
also my desire," said his adviser, "but I wished that the 
inspiration should come from above." 

Magnien's aspirations, however, were not to be grati- 
fied immediately. Bishop Dupanloup insisted that he 
should first repay the diocese by some years of service, 
and immediately after his ordination sent him to labor 
as assistant in the parish of St. Mark, in the suburbs of 
Orleans. The following fall he was sent to the lower 
seminary of La-Chapelle^St-Mesmin, where he taught 
with success for two years. Thence he proceeded to the 
seminary of ITantes, where he conducted a course in sci- 
ence. In October, 1865, he was finally permitted to go 



314 THE SULPICIAITS IN" THE UNITED STATES 

to the Solitude at Issy, to make his novitiate as a Sul- 
pician. We next find him at Rodez, where he taught 
philosophy, to which he afterwards joined a course of 
lectures on Sacred Scripture. As a teacher, he showed 
himself a man of clear and brilliant intellect, who grap- 
pled successfully with every difficulty, however formida- 
ble, and presented his subject to his students in the clear- 
est and most logical manner. This is the judgment of 
one who knew him in early youth and this impression he 
left behind him wherever he taught. 

While Magnien was a student in the seminary of Or- 
leans, M. Dubreul, who was then visiting France, placed 
before the young theologians the need in the United 
States for zealous, able professors to prepare the young 
aspirants to the priesthood for their important mission. 
The American Sulpician's eloquent appeal touched the 
heart of young Magnien. He determined to give his life 
and labors to the American vineyard, and in 1869, after 
carefully testing his plans and removing all obstacles, he 
enlisted for service under M. Dubreul. When he arrived 
in the United States M. Magnien was in the prime of 
his life. !N"aturally energetic and full of zeal, endowed 
with a vigorous physique, possessed of an agreeable voice 
which was fitted to present the most convincing arguments 
and to express the most touching pathos, a brilliant 
speaker, an attractive reasoner, he was prepared to achieve 
success alike in the class-room, in the pulpit and the draw- 
ing-room. His sympathetic nature readily gained for 
him the friendship of the old and the young, of the pre- 
lates whom he should serve and of the students whom he 
should rule. Withal, he was a spiritual man, sincerely 
pious and conscientious, with a true devotion to God, to 
Christ and his holy Mother. He combined the intellect of a 
scholar with the practical facility of a man of business. In 
short, his superiors were well inspired when they sent him 



ADMrNISTRATION OF M. MAGNIEIS^ 315 

out to the great American Republic as the man to serve 
the cause of the Church and of St. Sulpice. 

On joining St Mary's faculty M. Magnien lost no time 
in beginning his work. He first filled the chair of phi- 
losophy, but from 1871 to 1875 he lectured also on liturgy 
and Scripture. During the next three years he taught 
Scripture and dogma, thus giving remarkable evidence 
of his versatility and of the extent of his learning. In 
1878 he was named superior of the seminary, but con- 
tinued his professorial work on Scripture till 1880, and 
from then until 1886 he was charged with instructing the 
deacons. After 1886 the pressure of the executive work, 
or perhaps considerations of health, caused him to con- 
fine his occupations strictly to the functions of superior, 
which gradually became more varied and exacting. 

In M. Magnien sympathy, kindness and frankness were 
inborn characteristics. He was a man who gave freely 
of his heart and his intellect, but in turn accepted largely 
what was offered in friendship. His social and intellec- 
tual ability made him a pleasant companion and rendered 
it easy for him to acquire the English language. He had 
an open eye for the good in whatever was new, and con- 
sequently readily appreciated American manners, prin- 
ciples and circumstances. In short, before the lapse of 
many years, he not only spoke English, but spoke it well, 
and was to all intents and purposes a naturalized Ameri- 
can. As a result of his American sympathies, he not 
only allowed considerably more privileges to the students, 
though he always maintained what was essential in the 
rules of MM. Olier and Emery, but eliminated much 
which in his own country would be regarded as required 
by tradition and dignity. He felt that if he wished oth- 
ers to work with him and for him, he must not hesitate 
to approach them and explain to them his needs. The 
realization that others may be as retiring as we are our- 



316 THE SULPICIAlSrS IN THE UNITED STATES 

selves, and that at times misplaced modesty may prevent 
co-operation and mutual assistance, led him, when neces- 
sary, to forsake his school-room and his office. Shortly 
after he was made superior, he set out with the aged and 
beloved M. Dissez to visit at their homes the clergy of the 
diocese of Baltimore, who were assured that each and 
every one of them would be welcome at the seminary and 
treated with hospitality and cordiality. Of course the 
alumni of St. Mary's had always received the utmost con- 
sideration, but the friendly familiarity of M. Magnien 
added pleasure to what had perhaps been hitherto re- 
garded as a duty. 

While thus making a most favorable impression on the 
clergy, he was equally successful in gaining the good will 
and the friendship of the new archbishop, for the same 
year brought not only a new superior to the seminary but 
also a new metropolitan to the archdiocese in the person 
of Archbishop Gibbons. Both dignitaries were nearly 
equal in years and similar in disposition, both being stu- 
dents and scholars and most affable gentlemen. How 
near and dear the Sulpician was to the archbishop is 
clearly shown by the words which M. Magnien's death 
forced from the prelate's heart. "I have lost my right 
arm," said His Grace. "I had absolute confidence in his 
judgment, his ability and his loyalty." For more than 
twenty-five years the friends worked together for the wel- 
fare of the Church and the diocese, and the best inter- 
ests of their country. 

The favor and confidence of Archbishop Gibbons com- 
pleted the equipment of Father Magnien for the office of 
superior of St. Mary's Seminary, l^atural talents and 
deep and successful studies, attractive qualities of heart 
and mind and sympathy with the country of his adoption, 
qualified him to guide to new success and prosperity the 
institution entrusted to him. Circumstances, moreover, 



ADMINISTRATION OF M. MAGNIEN 317 

favored him by supplying his material needs and the nec- 
essary scholars, both of his own company and outside of 
it. The very year in which he succeeded M. Debreul 
promised a new era of success and development for the 
Sulpician work in the United States. -N'ot only the Arch- 
bishop of Baltimore, but also Monsignor Conroy, the 
Apostolic Delegate to Canada, encouraged and urged him 
to undertake new projects, which they and many of the 
American bishops thought full of promise. He made 
known his plans to the French superiors and requested 
their approval. They received Father Magnien's pro- 
posals with pleasure and sympathy but also with char- 
acteristic Sulpician prudence. They promised their ap- 
proval and their aid, but only after the Visitors, who were 
soon to go to the United States, should have reported on 
the matter. The Visitors, MM. Bieil and de Foville, ar- 
rived in 1880 and made a thorough survey of the situa- 
tion. They agreed that there must be an expansion of the 
seminary, requiring both additional men and further build- 
ings. They saw that fuller and more specialized courses 
of theology were demanded by the times and the needs of 
the country, and they approved of the scheme of housing 
the department of philosophy in the old building and of 
providing an independent staff of teachers for the expand- 
ing curriculum of that department. 

The first condition for the realization of these plans 
was the growth in numbers of the Society itseK. Since 
the beginning of the nineteenth century the Baltimore in- 
stitution of the Company of St. Sulpice had suffered al- 
most constantly from a lack of members. The Sulpicians 
never hesitated in time of emergency to call men of good 
will to help them accomplish their projects ; in fact, when 
it was considered advantageous, the management of some 
of their institutions had been entrusted to the hands of 
non-Sulpicians. Even before the arrival of the Visitors 



318 THE SULPICIAISrS IN THE UNITED STATES 

several new professors had come from France. In 1878 
M. Andre joined the Sulpicians at Baltimore, and after 
laboring here for many years he returned to France and 
became the historian of the Society of St. Snlpice in the 
United States. The following year Baltimore welcomed 
Father Arsenins Boyer, who was to be connected with 
the scientific department of the seminary for more than 
thirty-five years. 

M. Bieil, consequent upon his visitation, proceeded 
forthwith to secure new assistance for the Baltimore breth- 
ren. He brought over from the Solitude M. Hamon, from 
Canada; he brought M. Palin d'Abonville, who had been 
stationed at Montreal, while from St. Charles' he sum- 
moned M. Dumont to help in the reorganization of 
St. Mary's. But this was not all: Father McCallen 
had inaugurated the distinguished line of the Ameri- 
can disciples of St. Sulpice and he was soon fol- 
lowed by other American members. In 1878 three can- 
didates, who were looked upon as men of unusual clever- 
ness and of much promising character, had gone from Bal- 
timore to Paris. They were Edward R. Dyer, now the 
superior of the American Company of St. Sulpice; 
Charles B. Rex, afterwards President of Brighton Semi- 
nary, and later of St. Charles', whose premature death 
prevented him from filling the brilliant promises of his 
youth, and that solid scholar, R. K. Wakeham. In 1880 
Father Haug left for Paris; in 1885, Father McKenny; 
in 1887, Fathers Maher and Hogue; in 1888, Father 
Duffy; in 1892, Father Harrig; in 1897, Father Kunkel, 
and in 1900, Father Dor an. All these gentlemen, in the 
course of little more than twenty years, were recruited 
for tibe Company. When in the course of his administra- 
tion at Baltimore Father Magnien thought his forces were 
insufficient, he never failed to find auxiliaries who were 



ADMIISTSTRATIOX OF M. MAGNIEN 319 

willing to enlist under the standard of St. Sulpice without 
becoming members of the Company. 

In 1886 MM. Bieil and de Foville again visited St. 
Mary's Seminary as representatives of the superior gen- 
eral. Since their first visit the number of students had 
increased from 115 to 220. This growth impressed itself 
on the Sulpician Visitors, especially after the third Plen- 
ary Council, the sessions of which were held in the sem- 
inary halls. Father Magnien won the esteem and good will 
of the bishops generally by the generous hospitality which 
he extended to them. Moreover, the student body secured 
the approval of the guests by their demeanor in the semi- 
nary and their correct carriage at the public ceremonies. 

Hitherto there had existed in the seminary only a single 
course of dogma and one of moral theology. This meant 
that all the students of dogma, whether of the first, sec- 
ond or third year, followed the same course of lectures, the 
same being true for the students of morals. The differ- 
ent theological treatises, their natural sequence being dis- 
regarded, were taken in hand at the same time by all the 
seminarians. E"ow, however, the students of the three 
years were divided into two classes, the juniors taking 
up the fundamental or introductory treatises, and the 
seniors pursuing the special and advanced treatises of 
dogmatic and moral theology. This, of course, required 
a double teaching staff for each science. 

At the same time greater breadth and solidity were 
given to the philosophical course. The course of science, 
especially, was deepened and expanded in a manner re- 
quired by the progress of the sciences and their more 
intimate relation to the proper studies of the seminary. 
Father Dyer, from 1885 head of the department of phi- 
losophy and until 1894 professor of the full cycle of philo- 
sophic thought, shaped the curriculum of his department 
so as to give his students an insight into both abstract 



320 THE SULPICIAI^S IN" THE UNITED STATES 

and experimental sciences, their findings, degrees of cer- 
titude, processes and points of contact. The new cur- 
riculum was not, of course, unrelated to the changes in- 
troduced into the studies bj MM. Lhomme and Dubreul. 
It was an extending and perfecting of the plan of studies 
as it existed under them, and this plan of studies, in its 
turn, was the curriculum of the Sulpicians such as it had 
been developed and tested in France, especially in the 
Seminaries of Paris and Rodez. 

To work out the new plan so as to secure the happiest 
results with the minimum of change, the Baltimore su- 
perior appealed to the superior at Paris for the assist- 
ance of two men of merit. The first was M. A. A. Tan- 
querej, a very learned theologian, who wrote, and during 
his residence at Baltimore (1887-1902), began to publish 
his text-books of dogmatic and moral theology. Since 
their publication, they have been adopted in many semi- 
naries, not only in the United States, but in France, Italy, 
and other countries of Europe. The second was M. H. 
Ayrinhac, who has since become the superior of the re- 
organized seminary in Menlo Park, California, this in- 
stitution having been placed in charge of the Company 
of St. Sulpice. However, we must not forget to state that 
these three scholars, Fathers Dyer, Tanquerey and Ayrin- 
hac, were throughout their work aided by the advice of 
all the American Sulpicians, that M. Magnien reserved to 
himself the supervision and deciding voice in this impor- 
tant labor and that the Archbishop of Baltimore and many 
other American prelates were consulted and had no little 
part in giving the final shape to the new plan. We shall 
now proceed to lay before our readers the result of their 
deliberations and consultations. 

The entire course of studies of St. Mary's Seminary 
embraced two years of philosophy and three and a half 
years of theology. The philosophical studies were ar- 



ADMINISTRATION OF M. MAGNIEN 321 

ranged as follows : during the entire two years assigned to 
philosophy, five hours a week or one hour daily were 
devoted to philosophical studies proper, and five hours a 
week to the sciences. The philosophical studies proper 
were classified in the following manner: to the first 
year were assigned logic, psychology and epistemology 
or criteriology. The second year was devoted to on- 
tology, cosmology and theodicy or natural theology, 
which constitute metaphysics. It may be remarked that 
as time went on ethics ceased to be taught in the two 
years of philosophy, the entire subject being reserved for 
the theologians. The young philosophers devoted R\e 
hours a week for two years to various branches of science, 
which were considered necessary or useful for their philo- 
sophical and theological studies, the subjects being taught 
by two professors. The first year was given to physics 
and chemistry; the second, to biology. The selection of 
biology as exclusive subject for the second year of philoso- 
phy will be readily understood because of its close rela- 
tion to psychology and its importance in modem scien- 
tific apologetics. 

By way of preparation for the courses of Biblical in- 
troduction and exegesis, which were part of the course of 
theology, two hours a week were assigned during the first 
year of philosophy to the study of Old Testament history, 
and the same amount of time in the second year to the 
history of the E'ew Testament. The philosophers devoted 
two hours per week during two years to church history. 
All the philosophical students attended these lectures in 
a body. The subject was divided into two parts, the for- 
mer comprising the history of the Church until the acces- 
sion of Gregory VII in 1048, the latter embracing the 
history of the Church up to the present day. This gen- 
eral survey of the entire field of Church history served 
to prepare the students for a closer study of the science 



322 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

in the department of theology by the topical or the epoch 
method. Philosophers followed a course of Biblical Greek 
and theologians attended the same classes of Hebrew, 
which, like Greek, was an elective study. To plain chant 
one hour a week was given. Lastly, the students of phi- 
losophy followed for a brief period a course of elocution 
parallel to that followed by the theologians. The degree 
of Bachelor of Arts might be given to students of philoso- 
phy after the first year. If, however, for any reason the 
student failed to be promoted to this degree, he might ob- 
tain it at the end of his second year of philosophy. 

The third national Council of Baltimore ordained that 
candidates for the priesthood should give four full years 
to the study of theology, and at first this rule was strictly 
enforced at St. Mary's. In course of time, however, owing 
to conditions beyond the control of the faculty, it was 
thought wise to limit the course to three years and a 
quarter. The last quarter of a year was devoted to 
pastoral theology, to which part of the preceding va- 
cation was also given. There remained, therefore, 
three full years of theology, which were assigned 
through the several theological studies as follows: As 
had always been the custom, two hours a day for three 
years were given, the one to dogmatic, the other to moral 
theology. The first year of dogmatic theology was devoted 
to the study of the treatises on religion in general and the 
Church in particular. These laid the foundation of theo- 
logical science. During the second and third years, the 
students attended lectures in a body and in alternate years 
studied either the treatises dealing with Faith, the Re- 
demption and Incarnation ^ or the subject of Grace, in- 
cluding the Sacraments. 

The course of moral theology, including treatises on 

1 These are usually called "De Deo uno et trino" and "De Deo creante 
et elevante." 



ADMLNISTBATION OF M. MAGNIEN 323 

Human Acts, on Conscience, on Law, on Sin, and on the 
theological virtues was given to the students during their 
first year, before the end of which they began the study 
of the first three Commandments. The second and third 
year courses alternately took up the following subjects: 

(1) The fourth, fifth and eighth Commandments of God, 
the Commandments of the Church, the duties of the vari- 
ous states of life and the treatise on Justice and Contracts. 

(2) The treatises on Penance and Marriage, considered 
from both the dogmatic and moral points of view. Pas- 
toral theology was allotted to the three months immedi- 
ately preceding ordination. It comprised the lectures on 
the sixth and ninth Commandments, cases of conscience 
from the most important parts of moral theology and prac- 
tical directions for the ministry. 

Besides dogma and morals, the Sulpician course of the- 
ology embraces the subject of Sacred Scripture. From 
the foundation of the Company and in accordance with 
the views of M. Olier, the greatest importance had been 
attached to thorough instruction in this subject, which is 
one of the sources not only of Christian teaching, but also 
of Christian piety. In the long years during which 
the young clerk's studies lasted his attention was directed 
daily and almost hourly to the Sacred Books. Every day 
he devoted at least haK an hour to the reading of some 
passage in the Bible, every day before the midday meal, 
with head uncovered and on his knees, he read a chapter 
from the Epistles or Gospels. Before dinner and supper 
he listened to the reading of several verses of the Old 
or "New Testament. These Biblical exercises extended 
from one end of the young Levite's course to the other. 
Moreover, during his philosophical course, he devoted two 
hours a week to lectures on Biblical history, both of the 
Old and of the 'New Testament. These lectures presup- 
posed the time required to prepare for them. While pur- 



324 THE SULPICIANS IN" THE UNITED STATES 

suing these studies the young cleric would become well 
acquainted with the geography and topography of the 
Holy Land, with the customs and manners of the Jews, 
and with the state of Greek and Eoman society in Our 
Lord's time. Add to this, elective courses in Hebrew and 
Biblical Greek, and the whole was clearly a very substan- 
tial preparation for the young clerk's Biblical work dur- 
ing his theological studies. 

We shall now set forth the Biblical studies pursued dur- 
ing the three and a quarter years of theology proper. In 
1895 one hour per week was added to the course of Scrip- 
ture, it having previously consisted of two hours weekly. 
If it be asked why this strengthening of the Scriptural 
course took place, it is easy to find the answer. On the 
one hand, in the nineteenth century, much more attention 
began to be given by scholars to Biblical research, and this 
research was the work of exploration no less than of study. 
Moreover, the ingenuity of scholars often unfriendly to 
revealed religion raised many problems and controversies, 
some with a view to discrediting the Sacred Books, both 
of the Old and the IN'ew Testament. Il^aturally the young 
theologian must be prepared to meet these new problems 
by a more thorough training, and this was given in the 
additional hour a week throughout three and a quar- 
ter years. The plan of the new studies was designed 
with the utmost care and was obviously well calculated 
to give the young Biblical scholar a very substantial knowl- 
edge of every part of Biblical science. Of course, aca- 
demic study does not turn out at once a perfect scholar, 
and the gentlemen of St. Sulpice, who possessed in M. Le 
Hir and others acknowledged masters in their craft, did 
not deceive themselves in this particular. But it could 
be claimed for the course given at St. Mary's that those 
who carefully followed it and intended to continue this 
most interesting and important branch of their training. 



ADMINISTRATION OF M. MAGNIEN 325 

had it in their power to become thorough Biblical scholars. 

In its first year the Biblical course gave to the student 
an introduction to Biblical science. The lectures of the 
first term were concerned with the canon of the Bible, 
its original text, the principal translations and the his- 
tory of Exegesis, that is to say, the science of Biblical 
interpretation. The second term was devoted to practical 
application of the principles laid down in the first and 
to the somewhat extended discussion of certain Biblical 
problems. Thus in the historical books the history of the 
Pentateuch or Mosaic books was critically examined. In 
the poetic books, the Book of Job ; in the prophetic books, 
the Book of Daniel; in the didactic books, Ecclesiastes, 
were studied for the problems of modem interest which 
they present. The ^ew Testament led to the discussion 
of the Synoptic Gospels, of St. John's Gospel and the 
Epistle to the Hebrews. It is to be borne in mind that 
other books may have been substituted for those just men- 
tioned. 

The remaining years, two and a half, were assigned en- 
tirely to Exegesis. Of course, the young clerics could not in 
little more than two years, giving three hours a week to the 
subject, go through the interpretation of all the books of 
Holy Scripture; hence a number of the more important 
were selected and made the vehicle of Scriptural interpre- 
tation as laid down by the Vatican Council. The semina- 
rians were urged to give additional time, if necessary, to 
these important studies. To further encourage them, a Bib- 
lical circle, which lasted for a few years only, was estab- 
lished in 1894 for the most promising students. These 
attended special lectures and read dissertations on ques- 
tions of more than ordinary difficulty. We must not for- 
get to state that every seminarian was required to write 
two papers yearly on Biblical subjects, the first of his own 
selection, the second suggested by the professor. From 



326 THE SULPICIANS IN THE UNITED STATES 

1892 special attention was given to Scriptural science 
in tlie annual and semi-annual examinations. A course 
of Canon Law extending over three years and occupying 
one hour a week, formed another part of the seminary 
course. Its divisions comprehended : 1st. The sources of 
Canon Law; 2nd. Ecclesiastical persons and courts; 3rd. 
Canonical penalties. 

Church History, of which a sketch was given during the 
course of philosophy, was studied more in detail during 
the theological course. This was done, not by repeating 
the entire matter, but by choosing certain questions or 
periods for special treatment. The course lasted three 
years, and was given one hour a week until 1901, when 
a second hour was added. All the theologians of the sec- 
ond and third years attended the same lectures. 

To encourage the students and to rouse a spirit of emu- 
lation, the faculty did not fail to institute various debat- 
ing societies, lecture courses, written exercises, and prizes, 
some of which turned out to be eminently valuable, while 
others gradually fell into disuse. 

We have reviewed the organization of the curriculum 
of the seminary up to the close of Father Magnien's 
administration and placed before our readers the final 
result. We must insist, however, that this result was 
not achieved in a day or a year, and that many of these 
changes were begun as early as the days of M. Lhomme 
and M. Dubreul. Much of the reorganization also took 
place in the early days of Father Magnien, but it was not 
until 1895 that the final development was accomplished. 

From the studies of the seminary we next proceed to 
cast a glance at the students, and here we shall again 
take the Jubilee volume of 1891 as our guide. In 1879 
at the end of the first year of Father Magnien's adminis- 
tration, nineteen seminarians were raised to the priest- 
hood, in 1886, fifty-two, and in 1890, forty-three. In 



ADMIN^ISTKATIO]^ OF M. MAGNIE?^ 327 

spite of considerable fluctuation these figures demonstrate 
a very marked growth, which continued through the re- 
mainder of the century. In fact, before 1900 the number 
of students had reached the total of three hundred. These 
came from every part of the United States, though, of 
course, certain dioceses having seminaries of their own, 
are not represented. The great majority of the students 
are now evidently natives of the United States, and like 
the seminarians of the middle of the nineteenth century, 
are principally Americans of Irish descent. German- 
Americans, French-Americans and Polish-Americans, 
however, are not wanting, and now and then we meet with 
a Spanish name. In fact, the various nationalities which 
have contributed to the Catholic population of the United 
States during the nineteenth century are all represented. 
Since Father Magnien's administration approaches 
closer to our own time, years and experience have not 
tested the merits of the alumni to the same extent as was 
the case heretofore. Still, even the few years that have 
rolled by since their entrance into the battlefield of life, 
indicate that during its later years St. Mary's has sent 
out men equally as distinguished for scholarship, zeal, 
vigor and practical wisdom as those that left its halls in 
the early part of the century. The second year of Father 
Magnien's rule (1879) sent forth to the West a young 
priest whose zeal, piety, talents and scholarship warranted 
the high hopes entertained by his professors in his regard. 
His career justified their expectation, for George T. Mont- 
gomery rapidly rose to the coadjutorship of the see of 
Monterey-Los Angeles, and later on to that of San Fran- 
cisco, everywhere earning golden opinions by his virtue, 
his wisdom and his zeal. Unfortunately, he was not des- 
tined to fulfil these high promises, for in 1907 he was 
called to his reward. In the year following Father Mont- 
gomery's ordination, the present Bishop of Wilmington, 



328 THE SULPICIAIS^S IN THE UNITED STATES 

Right Reverend J. J. Monaghan, left the halls of St. 
Mary's and has since proved himseK a wise, earnest, amia- 
ble and able administrator. Seventeen years later Rome 
recognized his merits by naming him third Bishop of 
Wilmington, an office which he has adorned for well nigh 
twenty years. The Most Reverend J. B. Pitaval joined 
the alumni of St. Mary's Seminary in 1881. Appointed 
auxiliary-bishop of Santa Fe, with the title of Bishop 
of Lora, twenty-one years later, he was promoted to be 
archbishop in January, 1909. Bishop Patrick J. Donahue 
was raised to the see of Wheeling, West Virginia, nine 
years after his ordination in 1885. Peter James Muldoon, 
of the class of 1886, was named titular Bishop of Ta- 
massus in 1901 and promoted to the see of Rockford in 
1908. Bishop Joseph Patrick Lynch of Dallas, Texas, 
left his Alma Mater in 1900 and was raised to the epis- 
copal dignity eleven years afterward. 

Of the buildings planned during M. Dubreul's admin- 
istration only the essential part had been constructed at 
the time of M. Magnien's succession, but it was soon evi- 
dent that these did not fill the wants of the institution. 
Accordingly additions were built at three different times 
(1881, 1891, and finally 1894), until the edifice was twice 
as large as the part built by M. Dubreul. At present St. 
Mary's Seminary is centrally located in the city of Bal- 
timore; the site is triangular in form and contains about 
six acres. Its front, facing east, is on Paca Street, north 
of Franklin Street. The truncated north end of this tri- 
angle, much the shortest side of the whole, is on Druid 
Hill Avenue. The longest side, on the west, is on St. 
Mary's Street, extending from Druid Hill Avenue on the 
north to near Pennsylvania Avenue on the south. Except- 
ing that portion of the seminary directly in front of the 
centre wing the grounds are enclosed by a high brick 



ADMINISTRATION OF M. MAGNIEN 329 

wall. There are a number of fine old trees on the prem- 
ises. 

The central building sets back about sixty feet from 
Paca Street, occupying from south to north about the mid- 
dle of the lot on the street line. On the lower or south 
end of the lot stands the old chapel, begun in 1806 and 
finished and dedicated on June 16, 1808. At the extreme 
north, on Druid Hill Avenue, a portion of the lot is con- 
secrated as a burial ground, and here repose the remains 
of the Sulpician Fathers, the forerunners of the present 
faculty, each grave mound marked by a simple cross of 
cast-iron, on a central part of which are inscribed their 
respective names and dates. 

E'ear the extreme south end of the plot and facing west 
is the old chapel, a building of about fifty feet front and 
eighty-five feet in depth. It was designed by Maximilian 
Godefroy, an architect of considerable note in his day, 
but much better versed in the Classic than in the Gothic 
style. He has here combined the two styles and achieved 
a not unpleasing but truly quaint architectural design. It 
is built of brick with trimmings of Acquia Creek sand- 
stone. Fancifully moulded bricks are used in some of 
the clustered columned shafts and in the architraves of all 
the outer door and window openings. This is probably the 
earliest instance of the use in the United States of vitri- 
fied clay for this species of ornamentation. A high stone 
stoop leads up to the vestibule of the chapel. The body 
of the chapel is divided by a row of columns into a nave 
and two very narrow side aisles. The aisles are vaulted, 
the nave having a depressed barrel vault, while both vaults 
are groined and ribbed. The sanctuary is fairly large 
and contains a fine white marble altar. The various win- 
dows throughout have leaded and figured stained glass 
of fair workmanship. There is a large sacristy north of 
the sanctuary; a similar sacristy to the south has been 



330 THE SULPICIAIsrS IN" THE UNITED STATES 

transformed into a Lonrdes grotto. Over the west end 
of the chapel and over the vestibule, there are an organ 
loft and gallery.^ 

In the main hall of the seminary, attached to the wall 
behind the platform, is a large crucifix, with a life-sized 
figure of Our Redeemer, of surpassing expression and 
beauty. This crucifix, which was formerly in the chapel 
sanctuary, is the work of Capelano, who designed the more 
than heroic figure that crowns the celebrated Washington 
Monument in Baltimore, which was the first statue erected 
to the Father of our country. The basement of the church 
was used by Mother Seton for her school (1808-09). The 
house which she then occupied, situated to the south near 
the seminary building on Paca Street, and the house 
built eighteen or more years ago for the accommo- 
dation of the Sisters of Providence (who have charge of 
the various domestic needs of the seminary) are yet stand- 
ing. The house of the Sisters of Providence is a detached, 
capacious and presentable adjunct to the seminary build- 
ing. Both it and Mother Seton's former dwelling lie 
within the enclosure, but toward the southeast of the semi- 
nary grounds. This basement was also used for many 
years as a place of worship by the San Domingo refugees 
and later by the Oblate Sisters of Providence. 

Until the new collegiate buildings were almost com- 
pleted, the old chapel of St. Mary's Seminary was always 
open and was much used by the Catholics of Baltimore. 
Adjoining the chapel on the east was the home of the Sul- 
pician Fathers, and on the west stood the college buildings 

1 During the summer of 1916 the chapel was completely refurnished 
and redecorated. The scheme of decoration follows that commonly found 
in the fifteenth century in France, Germany and England. As the chapel 
is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, blue is extensively used. The 
altar was remodelled and set back into the apse. A tester (the Gothic 
development of the baldacchino), said to be the first of its kind in Amer- 
ica, is suspended from the vault. The floor of the choir and sanctuary 
has been laid with tile, the capacity of the former is greatly increased 
and much added space is gained for the latter also. The whole choir 
is enclosed in screens of oak, according to the ancient custom. The work 
was designed by and carried out under the direction of Mr. Wilfrid 
Edwards Anthony of New York. A. B. 



ADMIlSriSTRATIOISr OF M. MAGNIEN ' 331 

which have since been demolished. The Sulpician ceme- 
tery was at that time directly in the rear of the chapel and 
was removed to its present location to make room for the 
new seminary. The old chapel long since proved too small 
for so large an institution and was therefore supplemented 
by a new one for the use of the philosophers in the wing 
running north. The fundamental outline of the new 
seminary is like two Roman E's placed back to back, the 
outer having less depth than the inner one. The north 
arm of the wing running westward turns northward at its 
end, thus forming an additional wing running north. 
Both ends of the main body project slightly beyond the 
wings. The entire college has an area of fully 20,000 
square feet ; its extreme length from south to north is about 
350 feet, with an extreme depth from east to west of about 
130 feet. The centre and south wings were built in 1876, 
the north wings in 1881, 1891 and 1894. The entire build- 
ing is of uniform material and finish and presents a pleas- 
ing appearance, due to its regularity in size and proportions 
rather than to its decorative features. It is not built after 
any recognized style. The centre building is five stories 
in height and the wings are four, the structure being 
crowned by a mansard roof, with the centre predominating 
because of its additional story. 

The main entrance is reached by a fine flight of granite 
steps, which forms a decorative feature in smoothly 
dressed stone. The principal part of the basement story 
is devoted to refectories, a kitchen and their accessories. 
The first story, with its spacious entrance hall, is occupied 
by parlors, reception rooms, prayer halls and class rooms. 
The centre of the second story contains the suite of the 
president of the seminary, also several rooms set apart 
for the use of the archbishop of the diocese. The stu- 
dents' rooms occupy the remainder. The professors and 
students are also lodged in the third and fourth stories. 



332 THE SULPICIAIsrS IN THE UNITED STATES 

A library containing 60,000 well selected volumes is 
housed in the centre of the fourth and fifth or mansard 
story. 

We must not forget briefly to draw attention to a few 
of the noteworthy paintings scattered throughout the 
building. Four of these were the donation of the Hon- 
orable Severn Teakle Wallis, one of the graduates of the 
college, whose generosity we have had occasion to mention 
before. The first hangs in the dining room situated next 
to the main dining hall in the basement. Its subject is 
Christ at table with disciples at Emmaus, the repre- 
sentation being worthy of its subject. On each side 
of the great crucifix mentioned above are hung more than 
life-size pictures of St. Peter and St. Paul, ascribed to 
the great master, Peter Paul Eubens. In the principal 
apartment assigned to the cardinal there is a beautiful 
and impressive representation of St. Catherine of Alex- 
andria, which by its coloring and drawing has charmed 
several generations of visitors.^ 

To return to Father Magnien, it will be remembered 
that in 1886 he discontinued his work as a teacher. This 
was due in great part to the fact that during the latter 
part of his administration his time was largely taken up 
by the duties of hospitality forced upon him by a series 
of anniversaries and other festivities. As early as 1880, 
the seminary was invited by the civic authorities of Bal- 
timore to take part in the celebration of the one hundred 
and fiftieth anniversary of the foundation of the city. 
The archbishop and the seminary authorities decided to 
accept the invitation as an evidence of the solidarity of 
its Catholic institutions and people with the city of the 
Calverts and the land of Mary; hence, together with the 
rest of the Catholic clergy of Baltimore, they took part in 

1 1 am indebted for the above description of St. Mary's Seminary to 
my friend, Mr. George Frederick, the eminent architect of the Baltimore 
City Hall. 



ADMINISTRATION OF M. MAGNIEN 333 

the procession held to celebrate the anniversary. The 
dignitaries of the Church were the more ready to take 
part in these festivities, owing to the fact that a day had 
been especially set apart for commemorating the Catholic 
glories of the city where the first Catholic see had been 
established. In the following year occurred the centenary 
of the victory of Yorktown (1781). The entire Union 
joined in commemorating this glorious occasion and many 
of the descendants of Lafayette and Rochambeau came to 
add dignity to the celebration. The representatives of 
the French nation called at the seminary, where they re- 
ceived a warm welcome from Father Magnien and the 
professors. 

When, in 1884, the third national Council of Baltimore 
was summoned and assembled, it was in the hall of the 
seminary itself that it held its sessions. Of the seventy- 
five prelates who met on this occasion, many were in- 
vited to take up their abode in the seminary while the 
Council was in session, and the seminary became the focus 
of its activities. In this Father Magnien followed tradi- 
tion, for from the beginning the councils, provincial and 
national, had enjoyed the hospitality of St. Mary's. Fa- 
ther Magnien was himself a member of the council, be- 
ing the theologian of the Archbishop of Baltimore. His 
charming qualities as host were thoroughly appreciated, as 
were also his learning and wisdom. His voice was there- 
fore potent in the decrees of the Council, especially in 
the committee on clerical education, and he had no little 
share in planning and promoting the foundation of the 
Catholic University at Washington. 

Baltimore was again the scene of great festivities when, 
in 1889, it celebrated the centenary of the creation of 
its episcopal see. Every state and diocese contributed 
to make this solemnity memorable. Delegates from every 
state of the Union met and organized the first American 



334 THE SULPlCIAISrS IIS" THE UNITED STATES 

Catliolic Congress, and to add further significance to tlie 
occasion, the new Catholic University was at the same time 
inaugurated in Washington. St. Sulpice had a special 
reason for joining in the inauguration of the Washington 
University, because to its members had been confided the 
disciplinary management and spiritual direction of the 
seminary of the institution. Moreover, the American 
Sulpicians were hoping to establish at Washington, in the 
immediate neighborhood of the University, a scholasticate 
of the Company, a hope which was fulfilled in 1901. 
We see, therefore, that on this occasion also St. Sulpice, 
by its history and its aspiration, was called upon to have 
a more than ordinary share in the celebration. As usual, 
the president showed, by his generous hospitality, how 
deeply interested he was in all that concerned the Church 
and the nation, a circumstance which undoubtedly in- 
creased the popularity and influence of St. Sulpice, and of 
its superior as well. M. Magnien's attractive qualities 
were always appreciated, but never more than on the 
occasion of such festivities. 

The last anniversary, and that in which St. Mary's was 
in a peculiar manner interested, was its own centenary. 
On that occasion were gathered in its halls, and in the 
cathedral, which was so intimately connected with the 
history of the seminary and the Company of St. Sulpice, 
a vast number of its living alumni, while the glories and 
the achievements of its departed sons were written all 
about them in letters of gold. Scores of prelates were 
there and hundreds of learned and zealous priests, every 
one of them an honor to his Alma Mater. All were proud 
of this intellectual home ; all felt the charm of again rest- 
ing on the bosom of their spiritual mother. Father Mag- 
nien was as liberal as his own and his confreres' reputa- 
tion for kindness and generosity led their former scholars 
to expect. All the guests, from the cardinal down to the 



ADMINISTRATION OF M. MAGNIEN 335 

youngest alumnus, felt themselves surrounded by the love 
of a true mother, and their hearts were stirred to recipro- 
cal affection. It was on this occasion that the guests re- 
solved in filial thankfulness to build another and more 
beautiful chapel for their Alma Mater. They utilized 
this opportunity to associate together all the alumni of 
the seminary into a union which aimed to make lasting 
the friendly ties of their early manhood, the members 
pledging themselves to further the fame and the interests 
of the institution. 

The hundredth anniversary of St. Mary's Seminary was 
followed by a movement to extend the activity of the So- 
ciety of St. Sulpice in America, doubtless partly as a re- 
sult of the centenary celebrations. As early as 1848, Arch- 
bishop Hughes had expressed his desire that the Sul- 
picians should take charge of his seminary, but the Com- 
pany was at the time in no way prepared to accept this 
proposal. In the last decade of the century quite a num- 
ber of applications were made to the superiors of Bal- 
timore and Paris to take the direction of some American 
seminaries. ^Notwithstanding the growth of the Com- 
pany both in France and America, common prudence for- 
bade the Sulpician Superiors to entertain all the applica- 
tions made to them. However, Father Magnien was too 
energetic, too zealous and too enthusiastic a man not to be 
greatly interested in the new work which the Company 
and its Superiors took upon themselves just about this 
time. The Sulpicians took in hand almost simultaneously 
the disciplinary management of the Catholic University, 
the erection of St. Augustine's scholasticate at Washing- 
ton and the direction of the seminaries of the three great 
archdioceses of Boston, 'New York and San Francisco. 

Of course the planning and the work connected with 
these projects, the control of which was in the hands of 
the Paris Superiors, must have made great demands on 



336 THE SULPICIAISrS IN THE UNITED STATES 

the physical and mental powers of the Baltimore superior. 
At first, his vigorous constitution hardly felt the strain. 
Indeed, not satisfied with the exertions imposed upon him 
by his ofiice, he seems to have sought further work. He 
had become, in the course of time, an eloquent and sym- 
pathetic English orator, while his broad views and vast 
experience suggested him as a most wise counsellor. He 
was soon occupied, not only during the ten months 
of the scholastic year, but also during the summer vaca- 
tion, when he was asked by bishops and priests to give 
them some of the advantages of his learning and experi- 
ence on occasion of the clerical retreats. Father Magnien's 
temperament did not allow him to refuse, and in 
the vacation season his wise, prudent and zealous voice 
was heard in many parts of the American republic. 
Wherever he spoke his earnestness, wisdom and personal 
magnetism produced twenty-fold fruit and increased the 
confidence of the clergy in the Sulpician superior and his 
brethren. But he was burning the candle at both ends, 
denying necessary rest to a body strained to the utmost 
by the year's work. At last in 1897, while giving a retreat 
to the clergy of St. Louis, he was stricken by a severe dis- 
ease. The most eminent medical authority pronounced 
that, without a severe operation. Father Magnien's life 
was doomed. He went to Paris to consult the most trusted 
French physicians, who, after careful consultation, de- 
clared that a surgical operation was indispensable, and, 
without hesitation. Father Magnien submitted to it. The 
operation was successful and he returned to his beloved 
seminary, but after three years it was evident that the cure 
was but a reprieve. Heart disease set in and during the 
vacation of 1902 the necessity of appointing his successor 
became evident to every one, even to himself. During 
the fall his strength gradually waned, and on December 



ADMINISTRATION" OF M. MAGNIEN 337 

21, 1902, he was called to meet his Saviour in another 
world. 

His funeral was worthy of the man. The Archbishop 
of Baltimore, a number of bishops and several hundred 
priests hastened to pay him the last honors. Every tongue 
spoke of his merits. Above all. Cardinal Gibbons was 
unstinted in his praise when expressing his appreciation 
of the man who had for twenty-five years been his co- 
laborer and his loyal friend. 



APPEISTDIX 

The most illustrious alumnus of St. Charles' College, 
Cardinal Gibbons, has many times in his life spoken in 
the highest terms of praise regarding the character of its 
training. His discourse at the commencement exercises 
of the college, shortly after the destruction of the old 
building, is well worthy of being preserved, not only as 
the record of the Cardinal's feelings towards St. Charles', 
but also as an historical document witnessing to the real 
character and effects of the St. Charles' training. We 
therefore reproduce in full the discourse or, rather, in- 
formal talk to the graduating class of 1912, which was 
given in the Maryland Theatre, June 13th. 

"I hail this opportunity with delight, and I regard it as 
a sacred duty of religion and gratitude to pay a tribute 
of an overflowing heart to my venerated teachers, the 
Fathers of St. Sulpice. I shall always hold in grateful 
remembrance the Fathers of St. Sulpice for having trained 
my heart to virtue and religion and for having prepared 
me for the ecclesiastical state. I shall forever bless the 
memory of the Redemptorist Father who advised me to 
select St. Charles' College for the pursuit of my studies, 
and I thank an over-ruling Providence for having guided 
my steps to that institution. 

"It is now nearly fifty-seven years since I started from 
IN'ew Orleans to Baltimore to take up my ecclesiastical 
studies, and I can assure you. Ladies and Gentlemen, for 
I know it from experience, that travelling in those days 
was not quite so pleasant as it is today. There were no 
palace cars, — no eating cars, — no sleeping cars, — and we 
had to sit on the benches of a day coach for several days. 

339 



340 APPENDIX 

There was no railroad connection then between the Cres- 
cent City and the Monumental City, and I had to ascend 
the Mississippi River to Cairo; and I continued my jour- 
ney on the Ohio River to Cincinnati and there took a 
train for Baltimore over the Baltimore and Ohio Rail- 
road, which was then young in its advancement towards 
modern facilities of travel. The road was not yet com- 
plete and when we reached the Allegheny Mountains we 
were obliged to cross a portion of them by stage, and I 
reached the end of my journey after a travel of sixteen 
days. It now occupies about twice that number of hours 
to get to the same place. 

"The image of each of the Fathers who had charge of 
the Seminary and the College in those days is indelibly 
imprinted on my mind. Father Lhomme, Doctor Dubreul^ 
Father Elder, Mr. Randanne, Mr. Menu, Mr. Blanc, Mr. 
Jenkins, Mr. Griffin. — I remember them all very well. I 
have been acquainted for half a century with many clergy- 
men of exceptional virtue in both the diocesan and re- 
ligious branches of the hierarchy, and I can truly say that 
I never met any priests that surpassed the Sulpician 
Fathers in rectitude of life, in singleness of purpose and 
in devotion to duty. 

"The arrival of the Sulpician Fathers in this country 
was coeval with the establishment of the American hier- 
archy. They were invited by Bishop Carroll about the 
time, I believe, of his consecration. What Bishop Carroll 
has been to the hierarchy of the United States, the Sul- 
pician Fathers have been to the clergy. He has been the 
model of the American episcopate, they have been the 
models of the clergy. They have been with us now for 
nearly a century and a quarter, and during all that time 
they have upheld the honor and the dignity of the priest- 
hood, ^o stain has ever sullied their bright escutcheon. 
'No breath of calumny has ever dimmed the mirror of their 



APPENDIX 341 

fair name. I have met and known Sulpicians of various 
kinds, characters and temperaments. Like other men they 
are different from one another. I have known Sulpicians 
of a sanguine temperament and Sulpicians of a phlegmatic 
temperament, Sulpicians who were tall and some who 
were small. But I have never in the whole course of 
my life met a Sulpician who was not worthy of his high 
calling. 

"About six years ago, I think in 1906, Pius X issued a 
letter of instruction regarding the rule and discipline 
which should govern ecclesiastical colleges. I am glad to 
be able to say that long before that decree was issued, its 
spirit and its regulations were strictly observed at St. 
Charles' College. Indeed, they have always been observed 
in institutions under Sulpician control. The founder of 
St. Sulpice, Father Olier, inspired by the Council of 
Trent and the example of St. Charles Borromeo, taught 
his followers the best means to take for the formation of 
true priests. And they are the same means which are fol- 
lowed in all good seminaries, for they embody the wisdom 
and spirit of the Church which our Holy Father recently 
reaffirmed. And it must be a source of gratification to 
you, young gentlemen, that in observing the rules of your 
college, you are guided by the wise counsels not only of 
your professors, but also of the Holy Father himself, and 
what is more, you are obeying Christ HimseK who is the 
God of peace and order. 

"When I came to St. Charles' I knew very little about 
discipline, and I shall never cease to be grateful for the 
training given there by the Fathers. They taught us to 
love God. They taught us by word and example to prac- 
tise genuine charity and politeness towards one another. 
They allowed us liberty without license, granting every 
freedom commensurate with good order, and they gave us 
the example of how to rule without tyranny. They held 



342 APPENDIX 

over us the aegis of their moral protection without inter- 
fering with the God-given rights of conscience. They 
shared in our pastimes and amusements, and their greatest 
delight was to contrihute to our happiness and contentment 
of mind. They sought every means to cure us of that 
sickness which is terrible to young students, — ^nostalgia or 
homesickness. — It was a kindly but strong discipline 
which developed the moral qualities of those who were 
called to the priesthood and eliminated those who were 
unfit; and I trust for the good of the American clergy 
that the character of the moral training given at St. 
Charles' will remain always the same. What we desire 
above all are priests who are upright and manly and put 
holiness of life in the first place. As to the intellectual 
training of the college, the St. Charles' boys everywhere 
prove its excellence by the high standing they take in any 
Seminary which they enter." Turning to the graduates 
who were seated on the stage, the Cardinal continued : 

"Plato, the greatest philosopher of ancient Greece, was 
accustomed to thank God for two blessings that he en- 
joyed: first, that he was bom and educated in a country 
so advanced in civilization as Greece, and, secondly, that 
he had Socrates for his teacher. You have, my young 
friends, still more reason to be grateful to Providence, 
that your lives have been cast in pleasant places, that 
you have been reared in a country where you enjoy the 
blessings of civil and religious liberty, and that you have 
for your teachers the disciples and followers of Christ 
who is the wisdom of God and the power of God, whose 
knowledge excels that of Socrates as much as the noon- 
day sun excels the light of the flickering taper. 

"It is the part of a noble and ingenuous soul to be grate- 
ful to his instructors. For no compensation is adequate 
to repay those who formed the mind to knowledge and 
virtue. Alexander the Great, the most illustrious of an- 



APPENDIX 



343 



cient generals, had for his preceptor, Aristotle, one of the 
greatest philosophers. In the midst of his campaigns he 
never forgot his duty to his teacher. He used to say that 
his love for Aristotle was equal to his affection for his 
father, Philip, ^for,' he said, ^I have received life through 
the one, the other has taught me hov7 to live well.' After 
his conquests in Persia he presented his teacher with a 
sum of money equal to about a million dollars in our 
currency. 

''I am sure your teachers will not expect so munificent 
a remuneration at your hands. But you can bestow on 
them what they value more than gold or silver, that is 
the golden coin of grateful hearts. They will have their 
earthly reward when they know you are carrying out, first 
in the seminary and later in the priesthood, the lessons 
taught you at St. Charles'. Let no graduate of St. Charles' 
be like a barren tree. Strike deep root, grow, spread out 
your branches and bring forth good fruit in abundance." 



INDEX 



Abell, Eev. Mr., and Bishop 

riaget, 151 
Amat, bishop of Monterey, and 

Deluol, 213 
Andersonville, prisoners, and 

V^rot, 289 
Andr6, Sulpieian, 318 
Andreis, de, Lazarist, 174 
Anduze, M., and Dubourg, 177, 

178 
Annapolis school, 99 
Antonelli, Cardinal, and Bishop 

Carroll, 1, 17 
Aquaroni, Lazarist, 174 
Arundell, Lord, and Bishop Car- 
roll, 17 
Ayme, M., at St. Mary's College, 

105 
Ayrinhac, H., Sulpieian, 320 

Babad, Sulpieian, 44; and ne- 
groes, 234; at St. Mary's Col- 
lege, 71, 105, 107; and Mother 
Seton, 221 

Bacon, bishop of Portland, 207 

Badin, Stephen, and Bardstown 
diocese, 147; missionary jour- 
neys, 149; repartee, 69; at St. 
Mary's seminary, 40, 41, 68 

Balais, Marie Frances, Oblate 
Sister, 234 

Baltimore, anniversary celebra- 
tion, 150th, 332, 333; cathe- 
dral, consecration of, 186; 
colored population, 63; coun- 
cils of, Eccleston, 280; council 
(1829), 90; council (1831), 

345 



Tessier, 90; council (1884), 
and St. Mary'sj seminary, 33, 
333; Knownothings, 294, 295; 
Marechal's episcopate, 180; 
182-187; refugees, West In- 
dian, 231; St. Mary's college, 
71; St. Mary's seminary, 16, 
18, 24; see erected, 3; see, 
centenary of creation, 333, 
334; Sulpicians, 22, 39; and 
Tessier, 86, 87 

Barbarin, Sulpieian, 300 

Bardstown, and Chabrat, 285; 
David, 164, 165; Flaget, 147; 
see erected, 144; seminary, 
148, 149, 162; statistics, 160 

Barret, Sulpieian, at St. Mary's 
seminary, 40, 41 

Bayley, Dr. Eichard, 216 

Beauvais, diocesan seminary, 27 

Bechet, Sulpieian, 9 

Benech, Sulpieian, 313 

Bertrand, general, at St. Mary's 
seminary, 205 

, M., ordination, 174n 

BeruUe, Cardinal de, and clerical 
training, 27 

Bieil, Sulpieian, 317, 318, 319 

Bishops, and seminary direction, 
32 

Blanc, archbishop of New Or- 
leans, and Deluol, 213; and 
Sisters of Providence, 235 

Boarman, Charles, at St. Mary's 
college, 119 

Boegue, Marie Kosine, Oblate 
Sister, 234 



346 



iinxEX 



Bogan, Bernard M., 264 

Bohemia Manor, mission, 63, 77 

Bonaparte, Jerome Napoleon, at 
St. Mary's college, 118 

Boston, Fenwick 's episcopate, 
73; German Catholic church, 
first, 73 

Bourdoise, Adrien, seminary di- 
rection, 27 

Bowie, Oden, at St. Mary's col- 
lege, 243 

Boyer, Arsenius, Sulpician, 318 

Breslau, seminary, 26 

Bretonvilliers, de, Sulpician, and 
Emery, 9; and Olier, 35; and 
Sulpician rule, 35 

Brocard, Jesuit, Baltimore foun- 
dation, 295 

Brooke, Ignatius, priest, 71 

Brownson, Sarah, Gallitzin's bi- 
ography, 70 

Brut6, Simon Gabriel, bishop of 
Vincennes, 267-276 ; death, 
276; Flaget, 267, 268; learn- 
ing, 268, 269; library, 268; 
and Mount St. Mary's, 133; 
Providence, Sisters of, 235; at 
St. Mary's college, 114, 115; 
at St. Mary's seminary, 268; 
and Mother Seton, 226 

Burke, T. M. A., bishop of Al- 
bany, 261, 263, 308 

Butler, Mary Anne, Sister of 
Charity, 222 

Byrne, William, 82; at St. 
Mary's college, 156 

Cahokia, mission, 167 
Caldwell, Edward, at St. Mary's 

seminary, 19 
Calvert Hall, 278, 279 
Canada, Sulpicians in, 4, 32, 

37 
Carbry, Dominican, 182 
Oarrell, George A., bishop of 



Covington, 83; and St. Mary's, 
135 

CarriSre, Sulpician, 62; visita- 
tion, 89, 115, 194; and Whit- 
field, 194 

Carroll, Charles, of Carrollton, 
death, 201n; and Dubois, 188; 
and Maryland University, 100; 
and St. John's college, 103; 
and Sulpicians, 199-201, 201n 

, John, archbishop of Bal- 
timore, and academy, Sulpi- 
cian, 44, 47; and Lord Arun- 
dell, 17; and Charity, Sisters 
of, 224; consecration, 16; and 
Dubourg, 44, 113; and Du- 
gnand, 4, 15 ; and Emery, 8, 14, 
17, 48, 49, 50; and Flaget, 
144-145, 147; and GalUtzin, 
41, 69; and Gamier, 60; and 
Georgetown, 3, 17; and Louisi- 
ana, 172; and Nagot, 17, 54, 
57; and St. John's college, 
103; and St. Mary's college, 
96, 97; seminary projects, 3, 
15, 23 ; and Mother Seton, 219, 
220; and Sulpicians, 17, 20, 
22, 23, 40, 42; and Tessier, 
76, 87 

, Nicholas, and St. John's 

college, 103 

Cass, Governor, and Flaget, 155 

**Catholepistemiad," 168 

<* Catholic Advocate," 81, 207, 
208 

** Catholic Mirror," 208 

Catholic Tract Society, 207, 279 

Catholic University, projected, 
209; and Sulpicians, 333, 334, 
335 

Caton, Edward, at St. Charles' 
college, 248, 250, 260 

^ Miss. See Maetavish, Mrs. 

Catonsville, St. Charles' college, 
264 



INDEX 



347 



Chabrat, Guy Ignatius, coadju- 
tor of Bardstown, 285-287 

Chanehe, John, Mary, bishop of 
Natchez, 282-285; and Carroll 
of Carrollton, 201n; and Char- 
ity, Sisters of, 229; at St. 
Mary's college, 195, 238, 282, 
283 

Chapelle, Placide Louis, arch- 
bishop, 308; doctorate, 309; at 
St. Charles' coUege, 261 

Charbonnel, bishop, and Deluol, 
204 

Charity, Daughters of, of St. 
Vincent de Paul, and Em- 
mitsburg Sisters, 229; and 
Seton Sisters, 223, 224 

Charity, Sisters of, and Brut4, 
269; constitutions, 225; and 
Deluol, 198, 209; division, 227, 
228; and Dubois, 127; in 
Florida, 288, 289; incorpora- 
tion, 226; and Lazarists, 229; 
in Natchez, 283, 284; in New 
York, 191; and orphanages, 
228; and poor schools, 224; 
rule, 224; and Sulpicians, 211, 
215, 227, 228, 229, 230; and 
Vineentian Sisters, 229 

Charles Borromeo, Saint, semi- 
nary, 25 

Charlestown, Mass., anti-Catholic 
riot, 73; ecclesiastical disturb- 
ances, 182; Fenwick, 73 

Chartres, diocesan seminary, 27 

Chatard, Mrs., and Sisters of 
Providence, 234, 235 

Chateaubriand, and Sulpicians, 
21 

Chestertown, Md., college, 99 

Cheverus, bishop of Boston, 
184; and Mrs. Seton, 219, 
220 

Chevign6, de, at St. Mary's col- 
lege, 105n, 106, 110 



Chicoisneau, at St. Mary's semi- 
nary, 41 

Chigi, cardinal, and Sulpicians, 
35 

Chitchakos, Indian chief, 274, 
274n. 

Christian Brothers, in Baltimore, 
278; in Florida, 289 

Ciquard, Sulpician, and Emery, 
7; at St. Mary's seminary, 
41 

Civil War, and St. Charles' col- 
lege, 257 

Clarke, Father, S. J., Baltimore 
foundation, 296 

, George Rogers, and Flaget, 

155 

Clay, Henry, and Dr. Pise, 82 

Cloriviere, J. P., and Visitation 
Order, 82 

Clossy, Susan, Sister of Charity, 
222 

Colleges, American, commence- 
ment exercises, 109 

Collegium Germanicum, Rome, 26 

Concanen, Luke, bishop of New 
York, 184 

Concordat, French, and Sulpi- 
cians, 46 

Congress, U. S., Richard's dele- 
gation to, 169 

Connolly, John, bishop of New 
York, 184 

, John B., 248 

Conway, Bertrand L., Paulist, 
264 

Conwell, Henry, bishop of Phila- 
delphia, 184 

Cooley, Judge, and Richard, 17Q 

Cooper, Samuel, 222, 222n, 223, 
226; and Mount St. Mary's, 
133; at St. Mary's seminary, 
80 

Corrigan, archbishop, and Mount 
St. Mary's, 134 



348 



INDEX 



Coskery, Henry, viear-general of 

Baltimore, 209, 306 
Courson, de, Sulpician, 210, 211 
Crenier, Sulpician, and Emery, 9 
Cubi y Soler, Mariano, at St. 

Mary's college, 116 
Cuddy, Michael, priest, 71 

Damphoux, Sulpician, 83; doctor- 
ate, 88; at St. Mary's college, 
114, 115, 116, 195, 237 

Danels, Simon Bolivar Daniel, 
243 

Dausch, Michael, at St. Charles' 
college, 248 

Dauversiere, de la, and Olier, 
37 

David, John Baptist, coadjutor 
of Bardstown, 161-166; and 
Carroll of CarroUton, 199; and 
Charity, Sisters of, 223; co- 
adjutorship, 164; and Emery, 
8; episcopal nominations, 162; 
and Flaget, 145, 161, 166 ; mis- 
sionary labors, 42, 161; and 
Nazareth, Sisters of, 156, 163; 
at St. Mary's seminary, 41, 74, 
77; seminary, 149; writings, 
165 

Delavau, Sulpician, 8, 19 

Deluol, Louis Eegis, biographical 
details, 197; Charity, Sisters 
of, 209, 227, 228, 230; death, 
214; doctorate, 88; and Du- 
bois, 204; Eraiice, recall to, 
292; friendships, 204, 205, 213, 
214; influence, 252; and Ken- 
rick, 204; Purcell, 204; at St. 
Charles' college, 203, 211, 212, 
212n, 245; at St. Mary's semi- 
nary, 62, 78, 194-214; schol- 
arship, 198; science, encour- 
agement of, 205; and Tes- 
sier, 90; and Timon, 204; and 
Whelan, 204 



Denaut, bishop of Quebec, at De- 
troit, 167 

Denis, P. P., at St. Charles' col- 
lege, 255, 261 

De Smet, missionary, 179; and 
St. Mary's seminary, 204 

Desseille, missionary, 274 

Detroit, conflagration, 167, 168; 
Flaget, 153; Eichard, 138, 167 

Didaxiims, 168 

Dilhet, Sulpician, missionary 
work, 44, and Pigeon Hill, 71 

Dissez, Francis, military service, 
305; at St. Mary's seminary, 
298, 306 

Dominicans, in Bardstown, 147, 
156 

Donahue, Patrick J., bishop of 
Wheeling, 328 

Doran, Father, Sulpician, 318 

Dougherty, Eev. J. J., and St. 
Mary's college, 243 

Doughoregan, Carroll manor, 199 

Droste-Vischering, Clemens Au- 
gust von, archbishop of Co- 
logne, 15 7n 

Drury, Col., and St. Charles' col- 
lege, 254 

Dubois, John, bishop of New 
York, 187-193; and Carroll of 
CarroUton, 188 ; characteris- 
tics, 189; and Charity, Sis- 
ters of, 191, 223, 225, 226, 227; 
death, 192, 193; and Deluol, 
204; and Eccleston, 204; and 
Hughes, 191, 192; and Mare- 
chal, 188; and Mount St. 

. Mary's, 129n, 132, 133, 136, 
137; seminary, 190; Sulpi- 
cians, 188; and Whitfield, 204 

Dubourg„ William Valentine, 
bishop, 170-180; and Bishop 
Carroll, 44; and Carroll of 
CarroUton, 199; characteristics, 
113; Charity, Sisters of, 222, 



ES-DEX 



349 



223, 226; and Flaget, 174, 175; 
at Georgetown, 44; in Havana, 
95; and Indians, 178; and 
Jackson, 173; and Jesuits, 
179; and negroes, 231; and 
Mount St. Mary's, 129n; at 
St Mary's college, 71, 94, 95, 
97, 104, 106; at St. Mary's 
seminary, 41; and Sedella, 173; 
seminary, 175; and Mother 
Seton, 215, 220 

Dubreul, Sulpician, biographical 
details, 303; and Magnien, 
314; St. Mary's, administra- 
tion of, 302-311 

Ducatel, Mrs., and Sisters of 
Providence, 234, 235 

Duchemin, Marie Therese, Oblate 
Sister, 234 

Duchesne, Madame, Eeligious of 
the Sacred Heart, 174 

Duclaux, and Emery, 9; and 
Mount St. Mary's, 131; and 
Nagot, 55 

Duffy, Father, Sulpician, 318 

Dugnani, Mgr., and Bishop Car- 
roll, 4, 15 

Dujarie, M., at St. Mary's semi- 
nary, 307 

Dumont, Father, at St. Charles', 
261, 262; at St. Mary's semi- 
nary, 318 

Dupanloup, and Magnien, 313 

Dyer, Edward E., Sulpician, 318, 
319, 320; and St. Charles', 264 



Eccleston, Samuel, archbishop 
of Baltimore, 85, 86, 276-281; 
and Baltimore councils, 280; 
and Catholic press, 279; and 
Chanche, 282; death, 281, 282; 
and Dubois, 204; oratorical 
ability, 88; and St. Charles' 
college, 212, 212n, 245, 246, 



247; at St. Mary's college, 
121, 195, 237, 277; at St. 
Mary's seminary, 80; and Tes- 
sier, 90 

Education, in Maryland, 98, 105; 
clerical, Tridentine legislation, 
24 

Egan, bishop of Philadelphia, 
184 

Eichstaedt, seminary, 26 

Elder, George A. M., and St. 
Joseph's college, 156; at St. 
Mary's college, 195; at St. 
Mary's seminary, 81 

Emery, James Andrew, 4; ar- 
rest and imprisonment, 6; 
birthplace, 5; and Bishop Car- 
roll, 14, 17, 48, 49, 50; death, 
14; and Dubourg, 113; educa- 
tion, 5; and Flaget, 145-146; 
and Foumier, 32; and Gar- 
nier, 61; intrepidity, 36; and 
Montaigne, 8; and Nagot, 6, 
20, 55; and Napoleon, 11, 12, 
13, 14; ordination, 5; and 
Pius VI, 10, 11; release, 10; 
and revolution, 5; and St. 
Mary's college, 96; and St. 
Mary's seminary, 16, 17, 18, 
19, 20, 21, 46 ; and Talleyrand, 
14 

Emigres, in England, 57 

Emmitsburg, Md., Charity, Sis- 
ters of, 223; Dubois at, 128; 
Mount St. Mary's, 72, 129 

England, clerical education, 25; 
emigres, 57 

England, bishop of Charleston, 
185 

Etienne, Father, Lazarist, 229 

, Mother, 227, 228, 229 

Faillon, Sulpician, 212n, 212, 
298, 300, 301; and St. 
Charles' chapel, 256 



350 



II^DEX 



** Faith of our Fathers," 307 
''Faith the Victory/' 207 
FelPs Point, mission, 42, 61, 70, 

71 
Fenelon, river, 38 
F^nelon, M. do Salignae, 38 
Fenwiek, Benedict, bishop of 
Boston, and Deluol, 204; or- 
dination, 72 
, Edward D., bishop of Cin- 
cinnati, 184 

, Enoch, Jesuit, 73 

Ferneding, M., priest, 271 
Ferte, Stanislas, at St. Charles' 
college, 250, 251, 254, 255, 
261; at St. Mary's seminary, 
306 
Filiechi, Antonio, and Mrs. Se- 
ton, 217, 218, 219, 220 

, Philip, and Mrs. Seton, 

217, 218 
Flaget, Benedict Joseph, bishop 
of Bardstown, 143-161; and 
Brute, 267, 268, 269; and 
Bishop Carroll, 144, 145, 147; 
and Governor Cass, 155; and 
Chabrat, 285 ; characteristics, 
144; and Carroll of CarroUton, 
199; and cholera plague, 153; 
college project, 71; and David, 
145, 161, 166; death, 159; 
diary, 159-160; and Dubourg, 
174, 175; and Emery, 7, 145- 
146; and Gen. Clark, 155; 
and Gregory XVI, 156, 157; 
in Havana, 44; and Indians, 
154; and Col. Johnson, 154; 
and Gen. Macomb, 155; mis- 
sionary work, 42, 149; non- 
Catholic esteem for, 155; 
pastoral work, 153; and Prop- 
agation of the Faith, 157; 
Providence, Sisters of, 235; 
at St. Mary's college, 105; at 
St. Mary's seminary, 74, 124, 



148; and Bishop Spalding, 

148n. 
Flammant, Alphonse, at St. 

Mary's seminary, 295, 297, 298, 

306 
Florida, Church in, 288 
Florissant, Jesuit novitiate, 179; 

Sacred Heart convent, 175 
Floyd, John, at St. Mary's semi- 
nary, 19, 68, 70 
Foley, John Samuel, bishop of 

Detroit, 294; and St. Mary's 

college, 242 
Foley, Thomas, bishop of Chi- 
cago, 207; and Deluol, 213; 

and St. Mary's college, 242 
Fonteneau, at St. Charles', 261 
Fordham, college. New York, 

191 
Foster, F. G,, at St. Mary's 

college, 116 
Fournier, Mrs., and Mrs. Seton, 

221 
Foville, M. de, Sulpician, 317, 

319 
Frambach, priest, retirement, 128 
France, seminaries, 27, 46 
Frederick, Md., Dubois at, 128 

, George, architect, 332n 

Fredet, Sulpician, at St. Mary's 

seminary, 78, 201, 206; works, 

206n 
French Eevolution, and Sulpi- 

cians, 4, 5, 31 
Friendly Hall, seminary. See 

Pigeon Hill 

Gable's Fountain, 206 

Gallagher, Father, of Charleston, 
182 

, M. S., at St. Mary's col- 
lege, 240 

Gallet, Sulpician, 16 

Gallicanism, and Sulpicians, 36 

Gallipolis, settlement, 16 



INDEX 



351 



Gallitzin, Demetrius Augustine, 
40; and Bishop Carroll, 41, 
45; at St. Mary's seminary, 
69 

, Princess, 40, 69 

Cramier, Anthony, Sulpician, 
18, 60; and Carroll of Carroll- 
ton, 199; death, 210; and Em- 
ery, 61; at Fell's Point, 70; 
France, recall to, 60; mission- 
ary work, 42; and Mount St. 
Mary's, 131, 132; and St. 
Mary's seminary, 54, 59, 60, 
89; scholarship, 61 

Garrigan, Philip J., 264 

Garvey, William, at St. Charles' 
college, 248 

Gaston, Alexander, at St. 
Mary's college, 118 

Georgetown College, and Bishop 
Carroll, 17; Badin, 68; David, 
162; Dubourg, 44, 94; Fen- 
wick, Benedict, 73; Fenwick, 
Enoch, 73; foundation, 3; 
Marechal, 77; Matthews, 70; 
and St. Mary's college, 95; 
and St. Mary's seminary, 19, 
41, 47, 80, 91, 92; and Sulpi- 
cians, 45 

Georgia, Church in, 289 

Germans, Catholic, in Baltimore, 
278, 278n 

Germany, seminary movement, 26 

Gethsemane, Ky., Trappist foun- 
dation, 156n 

Gibbons, Cardinal, 307, 308; and 
Father Jenkins, 260 ; and Mag- 
nien, 316 

Gildea, Eev. John, 207 

Godefroy, Maximilian, architect, 
329 

Goesbriand, de, bishop of Bur- 
lington, 213 

Good Shepherd, Sisters of the, in 
Kentucky, 158 



Grand Coteau, Sacred Heart con- 
vent, 175 

Gregory XVI, and Flaget, 156, 
157 

Griffin, Eev. H., 261, 261n 

Gross, Joseph, at St. Charles' 
college, 248 

, William H., archbishop, 

263 

Guilbaud, Sulpician, 261, 307 

Guillemin, M., at St. Mary's col- 
lege, 105 

Guitter, Sulpician, 298 

Hall, James, geologist, and De- 
luol, 205 

Hamon, Sulpician, 318 

Harent, Joseph, Sulpician, 71, 
125 

Harper, Mrs., and St. Charles' 
college, 254 

, Robert, general, and Sis- 
ters of Charity, 226 

Harrig, Sulpician, 318 

Haug, Sulpician, 318 

Havana, Sulpicians, 44, 93 

Henry, Patrick, and Dubois, 128 

Hickey, J. J., Sulpician, 83, 198, 
209, 227, 228; and Mount St. 
Mary's, 132, 134; and St. 
Charles' college, 254; at St. 
Mary's college, 195, 239; and 
seal of confession, 210 

Hierarchy, American, 182-186 

Higginbotham, Rev. Ralph, and 
Maryland University, 100 

Hitzelberger, Charles, and St. 
Mary's college, 242 

Hobart, Rev. Mr., and Mrs. Se- 
ton, 217, 219 

Hogue, Sulpician, 318 

Holy Cross College, Worcester, 
founded, 73 

Trinity parish, Philadel- 
phia, 73 



352 



nS'DEX 



Hoskins, John, at St. Mary's 
college, 195, 208 

Hotel-Dieu, Montreal, 215 

Howard, Col., and St. Mary's 
college, 121 

, Thomas, and Bardstown 

seminary, 162 

Hughes, John, archbishop of 
New York, and Charity, Sis- 
ters of, 228; and Deluol, 213; 
draft riots, 306; and Dubois, 
191, 192; and Mount St. 
Mary's, 134; seminary, 288 

Icard, Sulpician, 66 

Ignatius of Loyola, Saint, and 

clerical training, 26 
Illinois, Church in, 147 
** Images, Vindication of the 

Catholic Doctrine concerning, ' ' 

by David, 165 
Ininiigration, Catholic, 2, 203, 

211 
Independence, War of, French 

assistance, 4 
Indiana, Church in, 147 
Indians, and Brute, 273; and 

Dubourg, 178; Flaget, 149, 

154; Sulpician missions, 38, 

42 
Irving, Washington, and Deluol, 

205 
Issy, Sulpician seminary, 61, 166 
Iturbide, Angelo, at St. Mary's 

college, 119 

Jackson, Andrew, and Dubois, 

128; and Dubourg, 173 
Jansenism, and Sulpieians, 36 
Jenkins, Oliver L,, biographical 
details, 249; literary work, 
250, 251; and St. Charles', 
212, 246, 247, 248, 250, 260; 
and St. Mary's college, 238 



Jesuits, in Baltimore, 244, 295, 
296; in Bardstown, 156; col- 
lege curriculum, 258; and Du- 
bourg, 179; and episcopate, 
183; in Maine, 39; ia Mon- 
treal, 38 ; in New York, 73 ; in 
Pennsylvania, 80; in United 
States, 183 
Joerger, M. J., doctorate, 309 
Johnson, Col., and Flaget, 154 
Johnston, Christopher, 243 
Joubert de la Muraille, James 
Hector Nicholas, 73; biograph- 
ical details, 232; and negroes, 
231, 232, 233; at St. Mary's 
college, 195 

de Maine, C, 232 

Juigne, Mgr de, archbishop of 
Paris, 5; exile, 11 

Kain, John Joseph, archbishop 
of St. Louis, 263, 308 

^ ' Katholische Wahrheitsf round, ' ' 
240 

Kavanagh, Edward, at St. 
Mary's college, 119 

Keane, John J., archbishop of 
Dubuque, 263, 308; and St. 
Mary's seminary, 310, 311 

Kelly, Eev. D. S., at St. Charles' 
college, 297 

J Patrick, bishop of Rich- 
mond, 184 

, William T., at St. Mary's 

college, 116, 296 

Kennedy, J. P., and Deluol, 205 

, William, and St. Charles' 

college, 254 

Kenrick, Francis Patrick, arch- 
bishop of Baltimore, deaih, 
306; and Deluol, 213; nativist 
riots, 204; and St. Mary's 
seminary, 301 

Kent Bay, Sulpician mission, 38 

, County School, 99 



IN 



Kentucky, Flaget, 147; ordina- 
tion, first, 285 

Knight, Edward, Sulpician, 116, 
195, 208, 296 

Knott, A. Leo, 243 

Knownothings, in Baltimore, 294, 
295 

Kohlmann, Anthony, S. J., 72; 
Providence, Sisters of, 236 

Kraft, G. J., at St. Charles' col- 
lege, 297 

Kunkel, Sulpician, 318 

Lacroix, de, Lazarist, 175, 178 

Lafarge, John, and Dubois, 190 

Lafargeville, New York, semi- 
nary, 190, 191 

La Fayette, and Dubois, 128 

Lalumiere, priest, 271 

Lange, Elizabeth, Oblate Sister, 
234 

Larkin, John, priest, 82 

La Salle, Jean Cavelier de, and 
Sulpicians, 39 

, Rene Robert Cavelier de, 

and Sulpicians, 39 

Latrobe, Benjamin H., at St. 
Mary's college, 120 

Lawsuits, Sulpician attitude, 
33 

Lazarists, in Baltimore, 278; 
and Charity, Sisters of, 211, 
229; St. Louis seminary, 175; 
seminary direction, 27 

Lechassier, and Sulpician rule, 
35 

Le Gallic, Sulpician, 5; and Em- 
ery, 9 

Le Hir, Sulpician, 214 

Lemcke, Father, Gallitzin's bi- 
ography, 70 

Lequerre, Urban, at St. Mary's 
seminary, 305, 306, 307 

Leray, archbishop of New Or- 
leans. 294 



DEX 353 

'''Letters to Brother Jonathan," 
81 

Levadoux, Sulpician, 18; and 
Emery, 7; mission, 42, 44, 137, 
167; at St. Mary's seminary, 
63 

Levins, Father, 189 

Lhomme, Francis, biographical 
details, 293; death, 302; and 
St. Mary's college, 239; at St. 
Mary's seminary, 195, 293 

Limoelan, Chevalier. See Clori- 
viere. 

Loretto, colony, 45, 69 

, Sisters of, 156; Chabrat, 

85, 286 

Lottery, and St. Mary's college, 
104 

Loughlin, bishop of Brooklyn, 
207 

Louisiana, Church in, 170 

LouisvUle, see erected, 158; Sul- 
picians, 44 

Lulworth Castle, Bishop Carroll's 
consecration, 16 

Luynes, Charles Hippolyte de, 
S. J., and Badin, 68 ; at Bards- 
town seminary, 85 

Lynch, Joseph Patrick, bishop 
of Dallas, 328 

(Patriel^ N.), and Deluol, 

204 

McCallen, James A., Sulpician, 

309, 310 
McKenny, F. X., Sulpician, 262, 

318 
McLane, Robert MUligan, 243 
Macomb, General, and Flaget, 

155 
Mactavish, Mrs., and Sulpicians, 

199, 200 
Maes, J., at St. Charles' college, 

254 
Magnien, Alphonse, biographical 



354 



DTDEX 



details, 313, and Catholic Uni- 
versity, 333; death, 337; St. 
Mary's seminary, 312-337 

Maher, Sulpician, 318 

, D. E., at St. Charles' col- 
lege, 297 

Maine, Fenwiek's activity, 73^ 
Sulpician missions, 39 

Maisonneuve, and Montreal, 37 

Mailer, Father, Lazarist, 229 

Mar^chal, Ambrose, archbishop 
of Baltimore, 180-187; and 
Carroll of Carrollton, 199; 
and Charity, Sisters of, 227; 
death, 187; and Dubois, 188; 
and Emery, 8; learning, 181; 
and Mount St. Mary's, 131, 
132; and Neale, 182; and New 
York diocese, 181; and Phila- 
delphia, 181; and St. Mary's 
seminary, 41, 63, 77, 88, 186 

Marietta, settlement, 16 

Marnesia, Marquis de, colony, 16 

*'Marye's Plot," 200 

Maryland, Catholic population 
(1785), 1; county schools, 106; 
education in, 98; missions, 2, 
42, 74, 161 

, University of, 100, 101 

Matignon, Rev. Dr., and Mrs. 
Seton, 220 

Matthews, William, at St. Mary 's 
seminary, 41, 70 

Maury, Cardinal, and Garnier, 
61 

McCaffrey, John H., 208 

McCloskey, Cardinal, at Mount 
St. Mary's, 134 

McDowell, Dr. John, and Mary- 
land University, 100 

McGill, bishop of Eichmond, 207 

McNeimy, bishop of Albany, 
and Deluol, 213 

McSherry, James, and Mount 
St. Mary's, 135 



Menlo Park, California, semi- 
nary, 261, 320 

Meredith, William, and St. 
Charles' college, 254 

** Metropolitan, The," 279 

Metropolitan Press, Baltimore, 
279 

Michigan, Church in, 147; print- 
ing, early, 169 

, University of, and Richard, 

168 

"Michigan Essay," 169 

Micmacs, Sulpician missions, 39 

Milan, diocesan seminary, 25, 
26 

Mission, Priests of the. See 
Lazarists 

Mississippi (river), discovery, 
and Sulpicians, 39 

Monaghan, John J., bishop of 
Wilmington, 263, 327, 328 

Monocacy, Gen. Wallace's re- 
treat from, 305 

Monroe, James, and Dubois, 128 

Montaigne, Sulpician, 8, 10 

Montauban, Dubois ' episcopate, 
180 

Montdesir, Jean de, at St. 
Mary's seminary, 19, 41, 68, 70 

Monteith, Rev. John, 168 

Montevis, M., and Emery, 9 

Montgomery, George T., bishop, 
263, 327 

Montreal, foundation, 37; mis- 
sions, early, 38 

Moranville, Sulpician, and ne- 
groes, 234 

Mountain, The. See Mount St. 
Mary's College 

Mount St. Mary's College, Em- 
mitsburg, 72, 126; Brut6, 268, 
269; Charity, Bisters of, 225; 
faculty, 130; foundation, 129; 
and Pigeon Hill, 59; Protes- 
tant students, 131; rebuilt. 



IN^DEX 



355 



136; student teachers, 81; and 
Tessier, 89 

Moynahan, at Mount St. Mary's, 
130, 130n 

Muldoon, Peter James, bishop of 
Boekford, 328 

Murphy, Maria, Sister of Char- 
ity, 222 

Myers, H. J., at St. Mary's col- 
lege, 240 

Nagot, Francis Charles, 18; 
academy project, 49; and 
Bishop Carroll, 17, 54, 57; 
characteristics, 54, 57; Char- 
ity, Sisters of, 223; death, 75; 
and Emery, 6, 20, 55; literary 
works, 59; and Mount St. 
Mary's, 129n; Olier, life of, 
55; and Pigeon Hill, 59, 72, 
125, 126; resignation, 59; 
and St. Mary's seminary, 22, 
39, 40, 53-75; and Tessier, 
58 

Napoleon, and Emery, 11, 12, 13, 
14; and Pius VII, 12, 13; 
and Sulpicians, 12, 181 

Nashville, see erected, 286 

Natchez, Chanche, episcopate of, 
283, 284 

Natchitoches, and Dubourg, 177 

Nativist riots, in Philadelphia, 
204 

Nazareth, Sisters of Charity of, 
156, 163 

Neale, archbishop, and Marechal, 
78, 182; and Tessier, 87 

Negroes, Sulpician care of, 63, 
74, 231, 232, 233 

Nerinckx, Father, foundation, 
156 

Neumann, bishop of Philadel- 
phia, and Deluol, 213 

New Jersey, Dubois' visitation, 
189 



New Orleans, diocese, 170, 171, 
172 

New York (diocese). Charity, 
Sisters of, 191, 225, 226, 228; 
draft riots, 306; Dubois' 
episcopate, 188-193 ; Bishop 
Hughes, 192; Kohlmann's ad- 
ministration, 72; and Mount 
St. Mary's, 135; seminary, 306 

New York (state), Catholic pop- 
ulation (1785), 1 

New York Literary Institution, 
72 

Nicollet, scientist, and Deluol, 
205; and Verot, 207 

Norfolk, disturbances, 182 

Nyaek, seminary, 190 



Oath, constitutional, and Sulpi- 
cians, 31 

Oblates of St. Charles, and sem- 
inary direction, 216 

O'Brien, Rev. Matthew, and 
Mother Seton, 219 

O'Connell, Denis J., bishop of 
Richmond, 308 

O 'Conway, Cecilia, Sister of 
Charity, 221, 223 

O 'Donovan, Charles, 243 

Oertel, Maximilian, at St. 
Mary's college, 240 

Ogdensburg, New York, Sulpi- 
cians, 38 

Olier, Jean Jacques, 27; and 
Bretonvilliers, 35; and Char- 
ity, Sisters of, 215; and Em- 
ery, 9; missionary experiences, 
28; and Montreal, 37; Nagot 's 
life of, 55, 59n; parochial 
work, 28, 34; and Tronson, 
35; and St. Vincent de Paul, 
28 

**One Mile Tavern,'* Baltimore, 
22 



356 



IJSrDEX 



Oratory, French, and clerical 

training, 27 
O^Eeilly, Patrick, bishop of 

Springfield, 263, 294 
Osages, and Dubourg, 178 
O 'Sullivan, Jeremiah, bishop of 

Mobile, 263, 308 

Pace, Edward A., 264 

Palin d'Abonville, Sulpician, 318 

Paquiet, Sulpician, 105n, 110, 
114, 115 

Paris, diocesan seminary, 27; 
revolutionary period, 5 

Parliament of Paris, and Sulpi- 
cians, 35 

Peabody, George, WaUis' biog- 
raphy of, 121 

Pecci, Joseph, Catholic doctrine, 
exposition of, 218, 218n 

Penalver y Cardenas, bishop of 
New Orleans, 171, 172 

Pennsylvania, Catholic popula- 
tion (1785), 1; Jesuit mis- 
sions, 80; missionaries, 2 

Perrineau, at St. Mary's semi- 
nary, 19, 68, 70 

Phelan, Eichard, bishop of Pitts- 
burg, 294 

Philadelphia, Charity, Sisters of, 
225; Marechal, 181; nativist 
riots, 204 

Pigeon Hill, seminary, 71, 112, 
125, 126 

Piot, B. S., and St. Charles' col- 
lege, 202, 245 

Pise, Charles Constantine, at St. 
Mary's seminary, 81 

Pitaval, J. B., archbishop, 328 

Pius IV, and seminary move- 
ment, 25 

VI, and American semi- 
nary, 3; and Church in United 
States, 1; and Emery, 10, 11 

^VII, and Dubois, 190; and 



Napoleon, 12, 13 ; and St. 
Mary's seminary, 51, 186 

Pizarro, Mr., at St. Mary's col- 
lege, 239, 240 

Pokegan, Indian village, 273, 
274 

Pole, Cardinal, seminary, 25 

Portland, archdiocese, 281 

Pottowatamie Indians, Badin, 
68, 275 

Pouget, H. C, at St. Charles, 297 

Prairie du "Bocher, Richard's 
mission, 167 

Priests, secular, and seminary 
direction, 26 

'* Principles of Catholics," Ba- 
din, 68 

Propagation of the Faith, So- 
ciety for the, and Flaget, 157 

Property, ecclesiastical, Eccles- 
ton's regulations, 86; Mare- 
chal, 186 

Providence, Oblate Sisters of, 
74, 230-236, 330 

Purcell, John B., archbishop of 
Cincinnati, and Deluol, 204; 
and Mount St. Mary's, 135 

Quarter, William, bishop of Chi- 
cago, and Mount St. Mary's, 
135 

Queylus de Montmorency, de, 
Sulpician, 38 

Randanne, J. B., and Mount St. 

Mary's, 132, 134; and St. 

Charles' college, 254, 261; at 

St. Mary's college, 116, 195, 

239 
Raymond, Sulpician, 238, 245, 

248, 250, 251, 296, 299 
"Recueil de conversions remar- 

quables," by Nagot, 59n 
Reilly, C, doctorate 
'^Religious Cabinet," 208 



IITOEX 



357 



Eeligious Orders, and seminary 
direction, 26 

Eetreats, first in America, 74 

Bex, C. B., Sulpician, 262, 263, 
318 

Eeynolds, Ignatius A., at St. 
Mary's seminary, 81; educa- 
tional work, 85; and cholera 
plague, 153 

Eichard, Gabriel, 166-170; Con- 
gress, delegation to, 169; in 
Detroit, 42, 44, 137, 138; edu- 
cational foundations, 167; and 
Emery, 7; and Flaget, 153; 
patriotism, 169 ; publishing 
ventures, 169; at St. Mary's 
seminary, 41 

Eince, Sulpician, at St. Charles' 
coUege, 261; at St. Mary's 
seminary, 307 

Eochefoucauld Liancourt, Due de, 
on education in Maryland, 100, 
101 

Eoloff, M. F., priest, 73 

Eoman, Andrew Bienvenue, at 
St. Mary's college, 119 

Eosati, Lazarist, 174; coadjutor- 
ship, 179; and Providence, 
Sisters of, 235 

Euff, priest, 271 

Eussell, William T., 264 

Sacred Heart, Eeligious of the, 
and Dubourg, 174, 175 

St. Alphonsus' church, Balti- 
more, 278 

St. Anne, parish, Detroit, 138, 
167, 169 

St. Augustine, diocese, Verot's 
episcopate, 289 

St. Charles' college, Baltimore, 
245-264; benefactions, 253, 
254; building alterations, 255; 
Carroll's donation, 200; chap- 
el, 256, 257; chartered, 200; 



and Civil War, 257, 305; con- 
flagration, 264 ; comer-stone, 
201; curriculum, 257, 258, 259, 
260; and Deluol, 211, 212, 
212n; Eccleston, 245, 246; 
episcopate, alumni in, 263 ; fac- 
ulty, 260; and FaiUon, 300; 
Jenkins, 246, 247; ordinations, 
262; Piot donation, 202; and 
Propaganda, 201 ; student 
body, 251, 252, 255, 256; stu- 
dent teachers, 203; tuitions, 
253; trustees, 200, 201, 247, 
248, 248n; Williamson gift, 
201 

St. Charles, Mo., Sacred Heart 
convent, 175 

St. Cyr, priest, 271 

St. Francis Xavier 's college, New 
York, first president, 83 

St. John's church, Baltimore, 
278n 

St. John's college, Maryland, 99, 
100, 101, 103 

St. Joseph, Sisters of. See Char- 
ity, Sisters of 

St. Joseph's college, Bardstown, 
156 

St. Joseph's Valley, 223 

St. Louis, cathedral, 175; Du- 
bourg, 174, 175; Eichard, 166; 
seminary, 175 

St. Mary's college, Baltimore, 
71, 91-123, 237-244; academic 
standing, 122; alumni, distin- 
guished, 118-121, 242, 243; 
Brute, 268; buildings, 113; 
building alterations, 300; and 
M. Carriere, 196; and Bishop 
Carroll, 96, 97; chartered, 104; 
classes, duration of, 108; clas- 
sical languages, 107n; clerical 
vocations, 125; commencement 
(1813), 110; commencement 
(1816), 109; creed distinc- 



358 



IN^DEX 



tions, 102, 104; curriculum, 
107, 107n, 108; daily regula- 
tion, 111; discipline, 111,^113, 
122; Eccleston, 277; Emery, 
96; faculty, 105, 106, 115; and 
Georgetown, 95; and Pigeon 
Hill, 112; public examination, 
110; records, 105; and St. 
Mary's seminary, 81; students, 
241, 242; and Sulpicians, 196, 
211; suppression, 244, 296, 
296n; and Tessier, 89; univer- 
sity rank, 106; West Indian 
students, 96 

St. Mary's college, Bardstown, 
156 

St. Mary's seminary, alumni, 71, 
81, 207-209; Badin, 68; Brute, 
268; buildings, 330, 331; Car- 
riere's visitation, 89; cente- 
nary, 334, 335 ; chapel, 329, 330, 
330n; and Civil War, 303, 304, 
305; and council of 1884, 333; 
Cuban contingent, 44; curricu- 
lum, 206, 298, 319-326; David, 
74, 162 ; degrees, conferring of, 
308, 309; Deluol's administra- 
tion, 194-214; Dubreul, 302- 
311; episcopate, alumni in, 294, 
308, 327, 328; faculty (1798), 
54; foundation, 18; Gallitzin, 
69; Gamier, 59, 62; and 
Georgetown, 19, 47, 80, 92; 
incorporation, 301; Levadoux, 
63; Lhomme's administration, 
292-302 ; Magnien 's adminis- 
tration, 312-337; Marechal at, 
63; memorial volume, 117; 
and Mount St. Mary's, 131; 
Nagot'a administration, 53-75; 
observatory, 207 ; ordination, 
first native American, 41; or- 
dinations, 79; paintings, 332; 
and Pius VII, 51; projected, 
15 ; and St. Mary 's college, 95 ; 



scientific course, 206, 207; site, 
22, 328, 329; student body, 19, 
44, 45, 50, 93, 307, 326, 327; 
Tessier, 58, 62, 76; theological 
course, 207; university rank, 
88; Williamson gift, 209 

St. Matthew's church, Washing- 
ton, 208 

St. Patrick's parish, Baltimore, 
42, 61 

St. Peter's church, Washington, 
87 

St. Rose's monastery, Bardstown, 
147, 160, 285 

St. Sulpice, parish, Paris, 28, 34 

St. Thomas' seminary, Bards- 
town, 162, 285 

St. Vincent de Paul's seminary, 
Lafargeville, N. Y., 191 

Sakia, Maryland, Sulpician mis- 
sion, 42 

San Domingo, uprising, 63, 74, 
230 

Sault St. Marie, Sulpicians, 44 

Savannah, V6rot 's episcopate, 
289 

Schrantz, C. B., Sulpician, 262 

Scioto, French colony, 16 

Seal of confession, and Fr. 
Hickey, 210 

Sedella, Anthony, priest, 173, 176, 
177 

Seminaries, St. Charles Borromeo, 
25; England, 25; episcopal 
control, 32; France, 27; Ger- 
many, 26; Italy, 25; Cardinal 
Pole, 25; Spain, 26; Sulpician 
system, 14, 65 ; term first used, 
25; Tridentine legislation, 24, 
26 

Senate, United States, Catholic 
chaplain, 82 

Seton, Anna, 217 

, Elizabeth, and Babad, 221 ; 

biographical details, 216; and 



INDEX 



369 



Bnit6, 226; conversion, 219; 
and S. Cooper, 222; and Du- 
bois, 127; and Dubourg, 220; 
and Filicchis, 217-220; vows, 
222; Ft. White's life of, 208 

, William, and Mount St. 

Mary's, 135, 217 

Sewall, Rev. Charles, and Sul- 
picians, 22 

Sibourd, Father, vicar-general 
of New Orleans, 173, 176, 177; 
and Fr. Dubourg, 215; and 
Mrs. Seton, 220 

Smith, Samuel, death, 296; at 
Mount St. Mary's, 130, 130n; 
at St. Mary's college, 240 

, William, and Washington 

college, 99 

Spalding, M. J., bishop of Louis- 
ville, and Flaget, 148n 

Starrs, Father, vicar-general of 
New York, 209 

Stenson, Mrs., 204 

Stewart, George, general, and 
Deluol, 205 

''Student's Handbook of Brit- 
ish and American Literature" 
(Jenkins), 251 

Talleyrand, and Emery, 14 
Taney, Chief Justice, Wallis' ora- 
tion, 121 
Tanquerey, A. A., Sulpieian, 320 
Taylor, Eev. Mr., and Dubois, 

188 
Tennessee, Church in, 147 
Tessier, John Mary, Sulpieian, 
18; and Baltimore diocese, 86, 
87; and Bishop Carroll, 76; 
and Charity, Sisters of, 225; 
death, 90; and Mount St. 
Mary's, 132; missionary work, 
42, 63, 74; and Nagot, 58; 
and negroes, 231; Providence, 
Sisters of, 236; resignation. 



195; at St. Mary's college, 
105; at St. Mary's seminary, 
54, 62, 76 

Tieman, Luke, and St. Mary's 
college, 118, 119 

Timon, bishop of Buffalo, and 
Charity, Sisters of, 229; and 
Deluol, 204, 213 

Tisserant, Father, and Mrs. Se- 
ton, 220 

Trappists, in Kentucky, 156n 

Trent, Council of, seminary leg- 
islation, 24, 26 

Tronson, and de La SaUe, 39; 
and Olier, 35 

Trouve, Sulpieian, 38 

"True Christian, The," by 
Bishop McGill, 207 

Trusteeism, Marlchal's stand, 
186 

"Truth Teller," 191 

Tulloh, M., at St. Mary's, 19 

United States, Catholic popula- 
tion (1785), 1; Church, growth 
of, 281; Church, organization 
of, 1; clergy (1785), 2; col- 
lege, first Catholic, 3; educa- 
tional problems, early, 92 j 
French colonization, 16; immi- 
gration, early Catholic, 2; Jes- 
uits, 183; ordination, first, 68; 
religious tolerance, 141; semi- 
nary, first, 15 

"United States Catholic Maga- 
zine," 208 

Ursulines, and Dubourg, 174 

Val d 'Espremenil, M., colony, 16 
V6rot, Augustine, bishop of St. 
Augustine, 287; at St. Mary's 
college, 110, 239, 240; at St. 
Mary's seminary, 201, 206; sci- 
entific attainments, 207 
V^rot's Island, 287 



360 



INDEX 



Ville-Marie. See Montreal 
Villeneuve, Sulpieian, 288 
"Vimont, Father, missionary, 38 
Vineennes, Brute 's episcopate, 
269-276; statistics, 272; Sul- 
picians, 44 
Vincent de Paul, St., and Sisters 
of Charity, 215; and clerical 
training, 27; missionary ex- 
periences, 28; and Olier, 28 
Vincentian Congregation. See 

Lazarists 
Visitation Order, Georgetown, 
chapel blessed, 87; and Fr. 
Wheeler, 82 
Vuibert, A., at St. Charles' col- 
lege, 261 

Wadhams, Edgar P., bishop of 
Ogdensburg, 207, 294 

Wakeham, E. K., Sulpieian, 318 

Wallis, Severn Teakle, 121, 122; 
and Pizarro, 240; and V^rot, 
240 

Walmesley, Bishop, and Bishop 
Carroll, 16 

Walter, J. A., and St. Mary's 
college, 242 

Washington College, 99; com- 
mencement program (1783), 
103, 104; de la Rochefoucauld 
on, 100; lottery, 105n 

Webster, and Deluol, 205 

Wheeler, Michael F., priest, 82; 



Providence, Sisters of, 236; at 
St. Mary's college, 116, 195 

Whelan, Richard V., bishop, and 
Deluol, 204; and Mount St. 
Mary's, 135 

White, Rev. Charles I., 207, 208 

, Rose, Sister of Charity, 

226, 227 

Whitemarsh, Maryland, Jesuits 
at, 179 

Whitfield, Archbishop, and Car- 
ri^re, 194; doctorate, 88; and 
Dubois, 204; and Eccleston, 
277, 278; funeral oration, 78; 
Providence, Sisters of, 235; 
and Tessier, 87 

Wilberforce, Robert, and Deluol, 
214 

Williamson, Adolphus, and St. 
Charles' college, 201; and St. 
Mary's seminary, 209 

Wilson, Father, Dominican, 285 

Winchester, Md., mission, 77 

Worcester, Mass., Holy Cross col- 
lege, 73 

Wurzburg, seminary, 26 

Xaupi, Sulpieian, 83 

Yorktown, centenary celebration, 

333 
Young Catholic Friends' Society, 

294 



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